Always Doesn't Last Long
by Sailorjj07
Summary: I'll be with you always." That's what Ichigo told Masaya, but now with a new mew and Ryou acting weird, will 'always' still be the same? Read and find out...
1. A New Mew

Always Doesn't Last Long

By: Sailorjj07

1. A New Mew

A/n: I've started a Tokyo Mew Mew fic! Yay! I would like to explain the title. I wanted to call it "Always Doesn't Last Long With You", but since that's terribly long, I just cut it short. I hope I don't make anyone too OOC. Oh, and by the way I'm going by the manga, which I haven't finished yet. I'll introduce a new character, and hopefully you'll like her! On with the fic!

Disclaimer: I do not own.

"Talking"

'Thinking'

**Actions**

(Me!)

Ichigo looked out of the window and sighed. After fighting aliens every night, going to school was boring. But since she had to go, she went and tried to like it. The only good thing about school was seeing Masaya. And even that was starting to get boring.

_'I really don't think he loves me anymore. He keeps telling me he does, but I'm afraid he doesn't. Was it me?'_

Ichigo sighed again and looked out the window somemore. She almost gave a gasp of suprise when Masha flew by the window and then came to a halt. Ichigo continued to stare at him, until he started hitting the glass. She could faintly hear his tweet from where she was sitting in the class. Thinking he needed her, Ichigo raised her hand and asked if she could go to the bathroom. Once she had gotten permission to go, she ran outside to grab Masha from infront of the window.

"Masha, what are you doing here?" Ichigo asked him, letting him sit on her palm.

"Ichigo, as soon as your out of school come to the cafe. I have some news you might like to hear." Ryou's voice said, from the little intercom inside of Masha.

"What's it about?"

"You'll see when you get here." Came the reply. With a tweet Masha flew out of her hand and away. Ichigo watched him for a moment before rushing back inside the school, back to her class.

**When School Let Out**

"Hi Masaya!" Ichigo cried, seeing him walking out of the school by himself. Masaya turned and gave her a small smile before slowing down, so she could walk with him.

"Hi Ichigo. How was your day?" He asked, walking beside her

"It was wonderful!" Ichigo replied, smiling. After they got a little further away from the school, Masaya stopped causing Ichigo to stop too. Masaya reached out and grabbed her, pulling Ichigo into a tight embrace. A red blush stained her cheeks and a dreamy expression crossed her face.

"Ichigo, I don't want you to fight anymore."

"Why not?" Ichigo asked, the blush fading from her cheeks. She wasn't very happy with Masaya's statement.

"You'll get hurt. And I don't know what I'd do if you got hurt."

"But Masaya, I have to..."

"No, you don't. Let the other Mews fight."

"I can't do that." Ichigo said, stepping away from him. He still had a smile on his face, but Ichigo ignored it. She felt tears coming to her eyes, and turned away. She started walking away from him before she stopped,"Please don't ask me to do that ever again." With that said, she took off, not wanting to see his face.

_'I thought he supported me? I thought the fact that I was a Mew didn't matter?' _Ichigo stopped running when she came near the cafe. "I guess it does now..."

**In The Cafe**

When Ichigo walked in various hellos came from all around. Ichigo smiled and said hi back to all of them before running into Ryou.

"You said you had something to tell me?" She asked Ryou, who nodded.

"Yeah. I'm calling a meeting with all the girls though. Not just you. You aren't that special."

"Shut up!"

"Nope." Ryou smirked at her, before telling everyone to meet him in the lab. When all of them got there, he sat down at a computer and started typing.

"We've located another Mew." Keiichiro said, from another computer.

"But we were the only five that got merged with animals, right?" Mint asked, confused.

"Obviously not. This girl just moved here, which means somewhere else their trying to do the same thing. Thing is, she's the only one." Ryou said, typing somemore.

"What's her name?" Ichigo asked, looking at the picture that popped up on the computer screen. The girl had dark brown hair that was up in a tight bun and blue-green eyes. She looked about the same height as Mint.

"Chocolate Takahashi. She lives near you, Ichigo." Keiichiro said, looking at the address.

"W-when did she get-t here?" Lettuce asked, looking at the picture as well.

"Just last week." Keiichiro replied, typing somemore. Another screen popped up and her cell phone number, phone number, and e-mail popped up.

"The thing is she's hardly ever home, except to sleep. She's in a club and she stays there most of the time."

"What kind of club?" Pudding said, hoping it was something cool.

"She sings. It's a club based solely on music and talent." Ryou said, smirking. "So which one of you can sing?"

"I can!" Pudding cried, bouncing up and down.

"I can too." Mint said, smiling.

"Is that it?" Ichigo asked, looking at all the girls.

"The rest of you can go just to watch. Pudding and Mint, I need you to find out who she is and look for the mark. It'll be on her somewhere, you just have to find it." Ryou told them, leading them out of the lab.

"Let's go!" Ichigo cried, ready for anything.

**At The Club**

When Ryou said she was in a club, he wasn't kidding. The undercover Mew Mews walked into a dance club that would be filled with adults later that night. There were people everywhere.

"How come I've never heard of this place?" Mint asked, looking around.

"Neither have I." Ichigo replied, examining the room they were in.

"Look, she's up there!" Pudding cried, pointing at the stage causing everyone to look. And Pudding was right. Chocolate was up on stage, singing like there was no tomorrow.

"And there's her mark." Zakuro added, indictaing the fang looking mark on the back of her right shoulder. The entire group saw it when she was doing a dance move to the song. They had caught the middle of the song and by the time it was over, the Mew Mews were back stage, waiting on Chocolate to show up. When she came down, Ichigo went up to her.

"Are you Chocolate Takahashi?"

Chocolate lifted an eyebrow,"Why do you wanna know?" Her voice was melodic and you could tell she was a singer. She had a slight attitude though.

"I need to talk to you." Ichigo said, determined to complete her misson.

"About?"

"The mark on your back."

"How do you know about it?" Chocolate asked, yanking her bun out to cover it up. Her hair spilled down to her shoulders, halfway covering the mark. She knew the halter top she had worn that day would show it.

"We all have marks just like yours." Ichigo said, indicating the group of girls behind her.

"Do you?!"

Ichigo smiled at her,"Would you like to go for some tea so we can explain this better to you?"

**5 Minutes Later**

"I see you managed to convince her to help you." Ryou said, when the group walked in. Ichigo nodded and the entire group sat down at a table.

"You, Chocolate have just become a Mew Mew." Keiichiro said, smiling at her.

"Who are you? And who is he?" She asked, pointing at Keiichiro and then Ryou.

"I'm Keiichiro. And that's Ryou."

"Your cute." Chocolate said, with a smile.

"Thank you." They both said, together smiling.

"Chocolate, you are just like us. We all have those marks and we all have been merege with an animal." Mint said, sipping on her tea.

"I was merged with a San Joaquin Kit Fox." Chocolate said, watching Masha fly around her.

"That means you can transform too." Ichigo said, happy to have a new friend.

"Transform?" Chocolate asked, slightly confused.

"Yes. Watch. Mew Mew Strawberry Metamorphosis!" In a flash of pink light, Ichigo became Mew Ichigo. She grinned at Chocolate, who watched her wide eyed.

"I can do that?"

"Yeah. Just concentrate on changing." Pudding said, smiling.

"Ok....Mew Mew Chocolate Metamorphosis!" Chocolate held her hand up, while calling out the words that came to her mind. In a flash of red light, Chocolate's clothes changed and she became the new Mew Chocolate. Her outfit was a red dress like Mint's blue one. The dress went to her thighs and stopped where a red band was resting right below the bottom of her dress. Her shoes were red, but looked like Pudding's and she had on red fingerless gloves. Her tail was a light brown and her ears were light brown as well. They almost looked like Zakuro's except closer together and more pointed.

"Wow. Look at me!" She looked down and examained her clothes. She tugged on the dress and touched the fabric.

Ichigo laughed,"Welcome to the team, Mew Chocolate."

**Later**

After closing the cafe for two hours, Ryou opened it back up with Chocolate now working there as well. She was probably the best worker he had.

"Good job, Chocolate." Ryou said, to her while she delivered five cups of apple tea to a table.

"Thanks cutie." She replied, winking. "I've been a waitress all my life! I'm used to stuff like this."

"She's good at this." Mint said, sipping her tea.

"Why aren't you working?!" Ichigo asked, her rolling her eyes.

"It's time for my tea."

"We just had some earlier!"

"So? I always have tea at 5:00 p.m."

"Oh whatever." Ichigo walked off, taking another order. Chocolate walked by with the empty tray, "Mint, what are you doing?"

"Drinking tea. I see you got my name right."

"Yeah I did. But you just had some tea when I got here!"

"And I'm having it again."

"I'd be careful about that, it could really mess your digestive system up."

"I don't care."

"I've noticed." Chocolate walked away from the seated Mint to go put a tray up. She watched Pudding do a trick for one of the customers and break about eight dishes in the process. Then she turned as another crash was heard and Lettuce dropped some more plates with glasses of parfaits on it.

"Are they always that clusmy?" Chocolate asked Zakuro, who was leaning over the counter. Zakuro just stared at her. "Are you going to answer me?"

"No."

"So they are always like that?"

"It's usual. Yes."

"Oh...Your name is....Zakuro, right?"

"Yes."

"Cool." Feeling slightly afraid, Chocolate went and sat at the table with Mint. Mint just smiled and sipped at her tea.

"Girls, we have a problem." Ryou said, walking in the room. Masha flew in behind him, making alot of noise.

"What is it?" Ichigo asked, putting her tray up.

"Kish, Tart, and Pie are attacking the mall. You need to get down there and stop them. Chocolate, are you going?"

"Yup!"

"Go then!" All six ran out of the cafe.

**At The Mall**

Once the group arrived at the mall, everything was in total chaos. People were running everywhere and everything was falling apart. Kirema animas in the form of birds were all over the place and were attacking people. The Mew Mews looked around the mall until the found the three aliens.

"Kish!" Ichigo cried, getting his attention. He flew down to her, grinning evilly the whole way,"I was hoping you would come. Hello my cute little strawberry. And look you brought a new friend! She's cute too."

"I was just about to say the same for you! I'm Mew Chocolate and if your ready for a fight, bring it cutie!" Chocolate stood ready, waiting for something to attack. The birds began to fly at her, but Chocolate wouldn't have it.

"Chocolate Claw Slash!" She thrust her hand down (like she was scratching something) and huge red claw marks appeared in the air, going through a group of birds.

"Wow..." Pudding said, watching the group of birds around her disappear.

"Stop paying attention to your new team member and fight me!" Tart cried, making a group of birds fly at Pudding. She smiled at him and tossed a candy drop at him,"Catch!" Tart caught it of course, but not before Pudding trapped all the birds in her Pudding Ring.

"Hey! You cheated!" Tart tried his hardest not to blush. Something about Pudding made him warm on the inside, and it took all of him to not blush.

"No I didn't, Tar-Tar!"

"Stop calling me that!"

"No Tar-Tar!" Tart gave an exasperated cry before he sent more kirema animas at Pudding.

Pie was fighting Zakuro and at the moment he was winning,"Your not as good as I thought you were." He said, smirking at her.

"We'll see." Zakuro replied. "Ribbon Zakuros Pure!" The purple whip like beam wrapped around Pie's ankle and Zakuro began spinning in a circle, yanking Pie around by his ankle. She let it go and Pie flew into a wall leaving an imprint.

"Dang..." Pie said, climbing out of the imprint that he had left in the wall. Zakuro stood ready, a smirk on her face.

"Ribbon Lettuce Rush!" Lettuce got rid of most of the birds that were pecking at people. But as soon as she got rid of the black cloud of birds, another came.

"More are coming!" Mint cried, fighting another cloud,"Ribbon Mint Echo!" She got rid of that cloud only to be attack by another.

"I'm coming, Mint!" Pudding cried, rushing to help.

"Oh no you don't!" Tart cried, sending a cloud of birds at her. Pudding grinned and popped a candy drop in her mouth,"Puddding Ring Inferno!" The cloud of birds immediatly froze in the gaint pudding.

Ichigo was still trying to fight off Kish,"Go away!" She cried, jumping out of the way of a cloud of birds. They made a circle and came back,"Ribbon Strawberry Check!" The group of birds disappeared and was replaced by another.

"Ichigo, I'm coming!" Chocolate cried, fighting her way through. When she finally got to Ichigo, Chocolate jumped in front of her,"Leave Ichigo alone!"

"Ichigo's mine I can do whatever I want with her." Kish replied, floating above them.

"If she's yours why do you treat her like crap? I don't think I'd want something that belonged to me, hurt or broken."

"That's true..." Kish said, looking thoughtful.

"Your too cute to be acting like this. Too bad I have to get rid of you! Chocolate Claw Slash!" Chocolate threw her attack at him, and because he was so in his thoughts Kish didn't notice until it was too late. Claw marks appeared on his arms and legs and he started to bleed.

"You'll pay for that." Kish said, glaring angrily at her.

"I'm ready when you are!" Chocolate said, still standing in front of Ichigo, who was watching the two.

"Not right now. Tart, Pie! Let's go!" Kish said, vanishing. The birds continued to attack them though.

"With the main leaders gone all we have to do is get rid of these things!" Ichigo cried, preparing to attack.

"Ribbon Strawberry Check!"

"Ribbon Mint Echo!"

"Ribbon Lettuce Rush!"

"Pudding Ring Inferno!"

"Ribbon Zakuros Pure!"

"Chocolate Claw Slash!"

All the Mew Mews threw attacks at once, getting rid of all the birds. "Yay, we got 'em!" Ichigo cried, smiling. She watched as Chocolate grinned happily and gave Pudding a high five.

End Chapter 1


	2. Chocolate Encounters Kish

Always Doesn't Last Long

By: Sailorjj07

2. Chocolate Encounters Kish

A/n: Hi again!! I'm writing another chapter for this fic!! Yay!!

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

"That was so much fun!!!" Chocolate cried, walking from school with Ichigo. Another school day had passed and the two were on their way to the cafe.

"Now that I think about it, it was kinda fun." Ichigo agreed, grinning at her new friend. She watched Chocolate spin around happily until she collided with someone.

"Chocolate! Are you ok?"

"I'm fine!" She cried, getting up. "Are you alright?" She asked the person she ran into.

"I'm fine. Thank you." The person Chocolate ran into said. He dusted himself off and looked up, proving to Ichigo that he was none other than her current boyfriend, Masaya.

"Hi Masaya." Ichigo said, not looking at his face.

Masaya looked up and smiled,"Yep Ichigo." Ichigo blushed, still not looking at his face.

"This is the Masaya I've heard so much about?! HI!! I'm Chocolate!" Chocolate said, grinning.

"I'm Masaya. Nice to meet you, Chocolate." Masaya replied, smiling at her and then smiling at Ichigo.

"Ohhhhhhhhhh!! I get it! See ya around, Ichigo!" Chocolate said, walking away from the couple. The look on Ichigo's face told her otherwise, but Chocolate decided that they may have needed to be alone.

"And plus, I never got to enjoy a quiet walk since I joined the Mew Mews." Chocolate walked through a park, admiring the trees and the beauty of it. She heard a rustle behind her and quickly turned to see who it was. When nothing appeared, she turned around, only to collide with something.

"I swear, if I run into another person...."

"Your gonna what?" A voice said, causing Chocolate to look up.

"KISH?! What do you want?"

"I told you, I'd make you pay." Kish said, forming an energy sword and charging at Chocolate, who jumped out of the way.

"You'll have to beat me first! Mew Mew Chocolate Metamorphosis!" Chocolate transformed quickly, barely having time to dodge another attack from Kish.

"Are you trying to kill me, cutie?" Chocolate said, smirking at him.

"Of course I am!" Kish swung at her and managed to get her cheek.

"Why? Did I hurt your little masculine pride?"

"No." Kish said, swinging at her again and getting her leg. Kish heard her swear under her breath.

"If I were you, I'd stop." Chocolate said her smirk still on her face. "Chocolate Claw Slash!"

The red slash marks flew by Kish and he flew in for another attack. "Die!"

"Lemme think about that.....Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...........No!" Chocolate slashed her claws at him, deciding to fight him the regular way. She hit him on his upper arm, smiling as blood came out of the cut.

"You even bleed cutely." Chocolate said, smirking at him. She knew her comments were making him mad.

"Arrrrrrrrrrgggggggg!!" Kish cried, phasing out. He appeared behind Chocolate ready to stab her.

"Let me help you with that..." Chocolate said, quietly. She turned around and before Kish could say anything, she grabbed his arm and licked his cut. Kish shuddered suddenly; he wasn't used to this kind of attention from anyone. Nor was he used to anyone touching him.

Kish moved away from Chocolate, staring at her for a little while, "Why did you....?"

"I think I like you, Kish. And your blood is very sweet tasting too." Chocolate said, licking the blood off her claws. She knew she was getting to him and she was doing it all on purpose.

"You......"

"I what?"

"..." Kish said nothing, but continued to stare at her. After several minutes, he disappeared, leaving Chocolate in the park.

"Darn! I wasn't through playing with him yet!" Chocolate cried, changing back to her regular self. She decided that she would keep the little incident to herself.

**At The Cafe**

"Chocolate, you're late!" Ryou said, as she walked through the door.

She grinned at him and rolled her eyes. "Put a sock in it, sexy. Ichigo will be here soon, stop worrying."

"I didn't ask about her."

"No, you didn't. But that's because you didn't have to."

"What?"

"Nothing Ryou, you'll realize it soon enough." Chocolate said, walking off.

"What is she talking about?" Ryou asked Zakuro, who walked back into the kitchen.

**In Space**

It was perfectly silent as Pie looked out his window at the beautiful black expansion the humans called outer space. The bright blue and green planet called earth spun around its axis, as Pie continued to watch it. When Kish came back from where ever he had gone, he had a deep cut in his upper arm. Pie had asked him about it and Kish replied with a nothing, as if it didn't bother him one bit. He seemed slightly out of it as he walked to his room, closing the door quietly, which was something he hardly ever did. Tart had looked out of his room door, giving Pie a weird look as the completely zoned out Kish had walked into his room.

"I wonder what happened to him?" Tart asked, breaking the perfect silence that had engulfed Pie.

"How did you get in here?"

"The door, duh."

Pie rolled his eyes, still looking out the window.

"You think it has something to do with Ichigo?" Tart said, still asking questions. He knew he was annoying the heck out of Pie, but he wanted to know.

"Maybe. He probably won't tell."

"He might. Maybe I should go bug the heck outta him until he tells me."

"He'll probably just beat you up and kick you out of his room."

"Your right." Tart said, sighing. He nodded at Pie and left the room, going to his own. When he walked by Kish's room, he leaned his head against the door.

"Get off of my door!" Kish yelled, scaring the heck out of Tart. He ran into his room, slamming his door.

**In Kish's Room**

"That dumb brat, trying to see if he can hear something." Kish said, lying back down on his bed. He had heard Tart's breathing and assumed he was trying to listen in, since he did it on a regular basis. Kish sighed again and looked out his window at the bright moon then at the bright green and blue earth below it. He had a view of both, something he had requested for his room.

"Why is this happening to me?" Kish asked, staring at the cut in his arm. It was beginning to heal already, as if the saliva of the fox girl had healing powers. He touched it softly, still remembering the feel of Chocolate's tongue against his skin. He shuddered again, but it was a shudder from a pleasurable memory. Kish stopped himself immediately, knowing he wasn't supposed to feel that way about someone else's touch. Ichigo was the one he loved. Ichigo was the one who made him happy. Ichigo was the one whose touch made him shiver. Ichigo was the one who had all of his heart....

_'Right.....?' _His mind said, voicing the thought that he wouldn't speak aloud.__

"....I'm not supposed to question my love for Ichigo. I love her completely and with all my heart." Kish said, out loud.

_'Are you sure?'_

"Of course I am."

_'Then how come you're still thinking about Chocolate? How come you're still hot from her tongue? How come your body wants her?' _Kish looked down at his lap and saw the slight bulge in his pants.

"I don't know what I feel anymore....DAMN IT!" Kish punched the head board of his bed, ignoring the cracking sound he heard from the wooden object. He watched as his knuckles bled and the memory of Chocolate licking his blood off her claws flashed through his mind. He groaned and fell back onto his bed.

**In the Cafe**

"I'm here everyone!" Ichigo cried, walking into the cafe.

"You're about an hour late!!" Ryou yelled, receiving a glare from Ichigo.

"I had to deal with something!!"

"You should tell her how worried you were about her, Ryou." Chocolate said, walking by with a tray in her hand. She had three apple teas on it and she grinned as she walked by the couple.

"You were worried about me?"

"Yes, I don't want my ultimate weapon going missing."

"Your ultimate weapon, huh? You said that was a compliment, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well then, thank you for worrying about me." Ichigo said, giving him a bright smile before she went in the back to change into her uniform.

"1 point for Ryou." Chocolate said, receiving giggles from Lettuce, Mint, and Pudding.

"What?"

"Nothing....." Chocolate went to another table to get their order.

"She was talking about you being closer to getting, Ichigo." Mint said, grinning at him. She saw the little bit of red forming on his cheeks and grinned wider.

"I don't want, Ichigo though."

"And that's why everytime she turned into a cat you ran over there to kiss her so she could change back. Wouldn't you be happier getting kissed back?" Mint said, watching his blue eyes. The emotions he felt were showing in his eyes and she watched as he battled with them.

"Yes but....No!"

"Ryou, stop fighting your feelings. I promise she won't hate you." Mint smiled again, and went over to talk to Keiichiro.

**Later**

"Geez, it takes forever to close this place up!" Ichigo cried, leaning against a counter in the kitchen.

"I know!" Chocolate added, sitting in a chair. Mint nodded her agreement while Lettuce and Pudding just sat down. Zakuro leaned against the counter as well, showing that she too was tired.

"Good job today everyone." Ryou said, giving the all a charming smile. But to Ichigo it seemed as it was directed at her. (Which of course it was.)

Then something popped into her head,"Oh yeah! I have an announcement to make everyone!" Ichigo cried, remembering what had happened early that day.

"Well?" Mint asked, rolling her eyes.

"I'm getting there! Everyone, I ended my relationship with Masaya." Ichigo said, looking happy and sad at the same time.

"But I thought you loved him?" Lettuce said, worriedly. If Ichigo didn't have a boyfriend anymore there was no chance for her to ever get one!

"I thought I did too. But how can I love someone when I was afraid to tell them everything? I couldn't get married to someone and be afraid to tell them things. I'd live in fear of my husband!"

"No one was thinking that far ahead, but I understand what your saying, Ichigo." Chocolate said, grinning.

"Good. I just thought I should let you all know that." Ichigo said, smiling.

"2 points for Ryou." Mint said, getting a laugh from Chocolate. Everyone else looked quizzically at the two, who merely shrugged and got their things together.

**In Space**

"I'll be back." Pie said, to the other two in the room. He phased out in a flash, leaving Tart and Kish on the ship together.

"This is the 4th night in a row." Tart said, getting out of his chair. He had been eating some candy, but got tired of it.

"I know. But I'm leaving too. Turn the security on before you leave, Tart."

"Ok."

Kish phased out and after the security system was turned on he left the ship too.

**With Zakuro**

"You're late." Zakuro said, getting out of the chair on her balcony. Her entire mansion was dark, including her room. She turned to walk back into her room when she was held around the waist.

"Sorry." A masculine voice said in her ear. Zakuro shivered and leaned against the muscular chest behind her.

"That's ok."

"No, it's not. It's unacceptable. I won't be this late ever again." Pie replied, laying his chin on top of her head.

"Are you going to make me stay out here or are you going to come inside with me?" A smirk played at Zakuro's face as she said the words that Pie heard every night.

"After you." Pie said, releasing her so she could walk in first. Zakuro walked into her room and pulled Pie in behind her. She shut her balcony doors and shut off her room to the rest of the world.

"Will you stay the night today?" Zakuro asked, getting back in her bed. Pie slid in with her and put his arms around her, kissing up and down her neck.

"If you want me to..." Pie said, still kissing her neck.

Zakuro turned around and faced him. Giving him a smirk, she kissed him, "Does that answer your question?"

Pie kissed her back in reply.

**With Tart**

"I missed you, Tar-Tar." Pudding's whispered voice was laced with longing and she pulled Tart closer to her.

"I missed you too, Pudding." Tart whispered back, hugging Pudding tightly. He didn't know when he had fallen for the little ray of sunshine, but he did.

"Really?"

"Yes."

Pudding grinned and kissed Tart on the lips, blushing when he kissed her back. Pudding pulled away for air and as soon as she had it, Tart lifted her chin up, bringing her lips back to his.

"You taste like candy, Tar-Tar!" Pudding cried, surprised at the familiar taste.

**With Kish**

"I know how to decide..." Kish said, coming up with a plan. He was sitting outside Ichigo's window, watching her sleep. She looked so peaceful, covered up in a bunch of pink fluffy blankets. His heart beat faster as she rolled over, her face facing the window. He watched her for half an hour, then he went to another house.

Chocolate's house was about three streets away from Ichigo's and how Kish found it, he'd never know. Something inside him told Kish where Chocolate was and he followed his new found sense to her house. Chocolate was also asleep, but it seemed as soon as Kish sat down on the tree by her window, her blue-green eyes flew open and met his. Kish felt his heart go into overtime as blue melted into gold. Finally Chocolate got up, opening her window.

"Kish? I knew you'd come." Her voice was quiet and soft because she was whispering.

"How?"

Chocolate stared at him somemore before she answered, "I dunno, I just knew." She stared at him a little while longer, "Do you want to come in?" Chocolate moved out of the way of her window. Kish smirked at her before he phased into her room behind her, scaring the crap out of her.

"If you could've done that, why didn't you?" Chocolate asked, sitting back on her bed. She had a tank top and shorts on as night clothes, and grinned mentally when she saw Kish staring at her. He licked his lips, proving his suspicions. His body wanted her. Bad.

"I didn't want to wake you up." He said his smirk still on his face.

"You were worried about waking me up? That's funny. You were trying to kill me earlier and now you're worried about waking me up? Ha."

"Forgive me for trying to be nice every once in a while." Kish said, shrugging. He sat next to the bed, floating in the air.

"I never said I didn't like it." Chocolate whispered, looking away from him. Kish stared at her turned head and wanted to scream at the torture his body was going through. He had never wanted someone this bad.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Kish?" Chocolate had long ago turned around, to see what Kish was looking at. When Chocolate got no reply, she scooted a little bit away from him. "Kish? Stop looking like that." Chocolate scooted away a little bit more, but stopped when Kish phased behind her, turning her around and crashing his lips down on hers. Chocolate gasped against the lips pressed against her own, but after seconds passed, she was kissing him back with as much force as he was her. They pulled away minutes later, breathless.

"Wow." Chocolate whispered her breathing heavy and her face flushed.

Kish nodded his head, reaching out and touching the cut on her face as softly as possible," I did that didn't I?"

Chocolate winced as he poked it gently and Kish immediately felt bad. "Yeah, but it's alright."

"If it was you wouldn't be trying to move away."

"I'm not."

"Don't lie." The playful Kish was gone and a more serious one seemed to take his place. He really did feel bad for hurting Chocolate, his new distraction from Ichigo.

"I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm-" Kish poked the cut harder. "Owwwww!! That hurt!"

"See?" Kish replied, smirking. Chocolate grinned and tackled him. "Now where was that cut I gave you earlier....." Chocolate poked her finger at the cut on his arm.

"Ow! Hey that's not fair."

"Nothing in life is fair, Kish honey." She poked it again, receiving a glare from him. "You look cute that way too!"

"Whatever." Kish huffed, turning his head away from her. Chocolate leaned down and licked his cut again.

"Kish?"

"What?"

"Are you mad at me?"

"No." Kish sat up, making Chocolate fall into his lap. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. "Change, fox girl."

"I don't wanna."

Kish kissed Chocolate firmly on the mouth then pulled away, knowing she'd want more.

"That wasn't fair." Chocolate said, getting up. She opened the window and was about to climb out when Kish grabbed her.

"No one said life was fair, my beautiful little fox." Kish phased them to the ground, releasing Chocolate when her feet touched. "Change."

"Fine. Mew Mew Chocolate Metamorphosis."

**With Pie and Zakuro**

Pie wrapped his arms around Zakuro's waist, pulling her bare body closer to his. She was asleep, of course, but Pie seemed happy just to watch Zakuro breathe. Pie watched her bare shoulders rise and fall before covering her up with blankets. He kissed her on the cheek and closed his eyes, going to sleep.

End Chapter 2


	3. A Secret Spot and A New Feeling

Always Doesn't Last Long

By: Sailorjj07

3. A Secret Spot and a New Feeling

A/n: I've updated!! Yay!!!

Disclaimer: I do not own.

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

"Where are you taking me, Kish?" Mew Chocolate asked, from her position in the alien Kish's arms. The alien didn't answer her, but continued to fly to the north. They began to go over water and Chocolate started to panic.

"Kish, please don't drop me."

Kish smirked, "I won't." They came to an island in the middle of the ocean and Kish set her down on the ground.

"Why are we here?"

"I wanted to share this place with you. It's the only thing on this planet that seems to have any beauty." Kish said, watching Chocolate take in her surroundings. She looked up at the starry sky and watched the dark waves splash upon the shore.

"So this is like your secret spot?"

"If that's what you'd like to call it."

"It is beautiful....Thanks for letting me see it." Chocolate said, turning and smiling at him. Then her expression changed and she took a step away from him. "Unless this is all a trap and you're really trying to kill me." Chocolate stood in a battle stance, thinking he might attack.

"If I wanted to kill you, fox, I would have done it a long time ago." Kish rolled his eyes and walked away. But Chocolate followed behind him.

"You can't leave me here!! I don't know my way around here."

"So? You have a sense of smell don't you?"

"I do, but I still don't know every scent yet."

"Do you know mine?"

"A little."

"Then let's play a little game." Kish said, an idea forming in his head.

"It depends...." Chocolate replied, smirking.

"On what?"

"What are the terms?"

"There are none. I just want to see if you can find me."

"And if I can't?"

"I'll find you."

"And if you find me...?"

"Then I found you. I'm not trying to get anything out of this game, if that's what you're thinking."

"Sure..........." Kish flew up and grinned.

"Ready?"

"You can't be serious..."

"Go." Kish phased away from Chocolate and her nose went to work. "That retarded alien, I don't even have his scent memorized yet."

"I heard that."

"Come out then."

"Nope. You haven't even started yet."

"I have to get back for school, you know."

"Then I guess you better start looking." The voice disappeared with the wind and Chocolate became determined. She was gonna find Kish if it was the last thing she'd do. She licked a finger and stuck it in the air to find which direction the wind was blowing.

_'North. Kish, you are mine.'_

_'If you can find me.' _Chocolate wanted to growl. She hadn't known Kish could talk in someone's mind and she could almost bet he could read them too. Chocolate set her nose to work and she was soon walking into a small tropical jungle. She came to a fork in her path with Kish's scent laced across both. This time Chocolate did growl. Then the wind blew and a scent caught her nose.

"Having problems?" The voice in her ear sent shivers down her back and Chocolate stood perfectly still.

"You made me look for you, when you were going to follow behind me."

"I didn't make you do anything." Kish leaned forward, still whispering in Chocolate's ear. His voice was driving her crazy and it took everything she had not to turn around and kiss him right there.

"Yes, you did. You knew I would do what you asked."

"And you did, didn't you?" Kish continued to whisper in her ear, seeing her shiver. He knew the effect it was having on Chocolate and he was going to use his new found power to the fullest extent.

"Yeah..."

"Now, what was that about making me yours?" Kish said, smirking. That was the last straw for Chocolate. She turned quickly and almost yanked Kish toward her, her mouth connecting firmly with his. Chocolate had no idea why she wanted the alien so badly, but the need to have him was killing her slowly. Kish's hands found its way into her hair and Chocolate knew if it wasn't for Kish's tight grip on her waist she would've fallen to her knees.

_'I've never kissed anyone I barely knew..' _

_'I guess there's a first time for everything...' _Chocolate tried to hold back her laughter, but the tongue that ran along her bottom lip changed her mind. She parted her lips slowly and let Kish taste her. Which was heaven for him. Kish ran his tongue along her fangs and then touched Chocolate's tongue softly with his own. Chocolate held herself back even though she had been asked to play. She didn't think she would be able to control herself if she did. Back soon the lack of oxygen came to her mind and she pulled away for breath, almost gasping for air.

"Why?" Chocolate asked, trying to calm her heartbeat. Kish put his arms around her, putting her back to his chest. He nibbled on her ear in affection and all Chocolate could do was sit there and let him do it.

_'Why what?' _Came the reply in her head. Kish still nibbled on her ear, but his eyes were closed. The voice in Chocolate's mind wasn't even as loud as it had been before.

_'Why did you kiss me, Kish?'_

_'Because I.....I don't know.'_

_'Well how am I supposed to know?'_

_'Your not. I'm just following what my heart told me. You were doing the same.'_

_'How do you know that?'_

_'I don't. I just have a feeling....'_

_'But don't you love Ichigo?'_

_'Not anymore. She never loved me and I'm not sure I love her anymore. She never kissed me back either.' _Chocolate laughed quietly and Kish stopped his nibbling to kiss her on the cheek.

"Don't worry. I'm not using you."

"Good." Kish picked her up in his arms and phased to her house.

**At Chocolate's House**

"Go to sleep, fox." Kish said, letting Chocolate turn back into her regular self. Chocolate got into her bed and watched as Kish sat on the bed beside her.

"Will you stay until I'm asleep?" Chocolate asked, yawning.

"No." Kish replied, with a smirk.

"Please?"

"Fine." Kish kissed Chocolate on the cheek again and watched as she closed her eyes and held onto one if his ribbons. It was the one attached to the back of his clothes.

**The Next Morning**

"Oh, I love that ribbon in you hair, Chocolate. It's so long and pretty. Where'd you get it?" Ichigo asked, looking at the ribbon tied in Chocolate's hair. She had a feeling she had seen it before, but the feeling wasn't as strong.

"I found it in my room this morning." Actually she had found it in her hand when she woke up. She knew Kish had left it for her, but she didn't want to tell Ichigo that.

"Cool. It's so pretty."

"Thanks."

**Afterschool**

"HI RYOU!!" Chocolate cried, walking into the cafe. She had a huge smile on her face and it seemed nothing could rid her of her mood.

"What's with all the noise, Chocolate?" Ryou asked, coming from the kitchen. He sighed at the girl's happiness.

"It's not noise! I was saying hi! No need to get so offensive, Ryou." Chocolate said, going into a back room to put on her uniform.

"What's with her?" Ryou turned to Ichigo, expecting her to have an answer.

"I dunno. She's been that way all day." Ichigo replied, watching her friend with a happy smile. Ryou watched her for a second then said something he didn't even expect.

"If it makes you smile then I hope she's that way all day." Ryou wasn't looking at Ichigo, but if she did she'd notice the bright red blush on her cheeks at his comment. Ryou walked away from the surprised Ichigo then, knowing he just took their relationship up to a whole new level.

"Point 3 for Ryou." Mint said, grinning from her spot on the kitchen counter. Zakuro nodded and went back to setting out empty trays and heart shaped note pads.

Lettuce on the other hand, didn't look to happy about it.

**At Closing Time**

"I am so tired!" Ichigo cried, sitting in a chair. Chocolate sat down beside her but didn't complain. She was playing with the bow in her hair and humming softly.

"Why are you so happy?" Mint asked, from her seat across from Chocolate. She watched her for a couple minutes before crying, "Who is he?"

"Huh?" Ichigo looked at Mint then at Chocolate. "What is she talking about?"

"It's obvious the girl is in love! Can't you see? You should know that look too!"

"In love? With who?" Ichigo turned to Chocolate, waiting for an answer, as did Mint. The entire group began to sit down and even Ryou and Keiichiro had come out of the lab to see what the commotion was about.

"A boy."

"We know that already." Mint said, rolling her eyes.

"Is he nice?" Pudding asked, trying to get something out of her.

"Yes."

"Is he cute?"

"Yes, Pudding. He's very cute."

"Is he sweet?"

"When he wants to be." Chocolate continued to play with the ribbon, her smile still on her face. She wasn't gonna tell them anything, but she might as well have a little fun with them.

"Is he......fun to be around?"

"Lots."

"Is he funny?" Ichigo wanted to join in the questioning too.

"In a very weird way."

"Oh tell us already! Quit stalling." Mint said, cutting the interrogation short.

"I can't..."

"And why not?"

"Because I don't know his name." Chocolate knew it was a lie, but she couldn't tell everyone straight out that it was Kish. They'd all flip out and she didn't know how Ichigo would react yet.

"You don't know his name?! How long have you known him?" Mint cried, surprised at the girl. She might have expected something like this from Ichigo, but definitely not from Chocolate.

"About two or three days."

"Two or three-?! How can you possibly be in love with someone and only know them for two or three days!"

"I never said I was in love with him, Mint. You did." Chocolate got up from the table and went to change into her school uniform, so she could go home.

**Later**

"Ichigo, what are you doing here still?" Ryou asked, watching Ichigo sit on the counter, swinging her legs.

"Thinking." Ichigo answered, looking at the wall.

"And you stayed about 20 minutes after everyone left to think?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I want to be a cat again."

"What?"

"I want to be able to go back and forth between cat and human form like you can."

"But all I can do is change into Alto." Ryou replied, walking into the kitchen and sitting on the counter beside her.

"I want to be able to change too. If I could, I may be able to use it to an advantage." Ichigo turned to face Ryou, her face thoughtful.

"I don't know if I can teach you. We may just have to put you into a situation where you'll change."

"Like what?"

"Like........." Ryou moved closer to Ichigo and leaned forward. Ichigo leaned back and Ryou continued to lean forward. When Ichigo's back was completely on the counter she looked up and got lost in Ryou's bright blue eyes, "This type of situation is a perfect example. If I kiss you, will you change into a cat? We never got to figure that out."

"N-no, we didn't."

"Well let's see now..." Ryou caught her lips with his own and Ichigo gasped against his mouth. After a second heat filled her and she kissed him back. There was a puff of smoke and Ichigo was a kitten once again.

"It worked." Ryou said, picking the cat up. He kissed her again and felt the weight of her human form fall into his lap. "Isn't that interesting?"

"Very." Ichigo replied, very much in a heated daze. The heat from Ryou's last kiss was still inside her and the one she just received was adding to it. Ichigo wasn't sure if she could take much more.

"Next time you want to turn into a cat, you know where to look." Ryou put her down on her feet and hopped off the counter, walking out of the kitchen. Ichigo watched him go, holding a hand to her mouth and blushing bright red.

End Chapter 3****


	4. Another Visit

Always Doesn't Last Long

By: Sailorjj07

4. Another Visit

A/n: Lookie!! I updated!!

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

"I'm on time today." Pie said to Zakuro. She nodded and walked into her room with him following behind her. They had been secretly meeting for two weeks now, sleeping together every night. (I mean that in both ways. HEHE!!)

"I'm glad. You were late for three days in a row."

"I apologize."

"You're forgiven." And then the lights in the room went off.

**At Pudding's House**

"How come you guys haven't been attacking us lately?" Pudding asked Tart, who was currently eating a lollipop. They were sitting on the roof together, eating candy and looking at the sky.

"Cause Pie keeps going off at night. We all know he's here somewhere, so we just haven't been attacking. I'll tell you when we plan on it though."

"Tar-Tar, I don't like fighting you." Pudding said, leaning against him. Tart put his arm around her, still eating his lollipop.

"And I don't like pretending I hate you, but we have to do it until we're old enough to tell them otherwise."

"Ok. I'll wait then."

"And I'll wait with you."

**At Chocolate's House**

"Why do you keep coming to visit me?" Chocolate asked, sighing as she slipped into Kish's arms. The warmth, comfort, and security she found in his arms was surprising to her, but she embraced these new feelings with open arms.

"I don't know. I told you I was following my heart." Kish replied, hugging her.

"So does that mean I'm in your heart?" Chocolate looked up into his golden eyes and got lost as usual.

"Yeah...I think it does. Is that a problem?"

"No, of course not. But what about the other Mews and you two friends?"

"I don't give a damn about wither it's a problem to them or not. They'll get over it eventually. And if they don't, oh well." Kish told her, meaning every word he said. He held the girl tighter and she gave a happy sigh.

"I'm glad to know that, Kish."

**At Ichigo's House**

Ichigo was still up at 3 a.m., still thinking about the kiss that Ryou had given her almost seven hours ago. It surprised her how much different Ryou's kiss was from Masaya's in so many different ways. Ryou's was soft, but firm; innocent yet sinful at the same time. It made her feel wanted and made her long for more all at once. Masaya's kisses now felt like they were all routine, something to prove to him that her crush on him was still there. She wasn't in love with him no matter how much she wanted to believe, no matter how much she had wished for it to be. She was infatuated and that would never turn into love. No matter what either of them did. But Ryou...Ichigo had decided sometime around eleven that she could love Ryou and that's exactly what she was going to do. She was going to love him with everything she had until he begged to be with her. She knew if she played her cards right, he'd love her just as much; maybe more. Oh, what it would feel like for Ryou to love her. The dream seemed amazing in her head. Her thoughts were continuing to run, when she saw a little gray cat by her window, tapping softly on the glass.

"Alto? What are you doing here?" Ichigo asked, watching the cat hop down from the window sill and jump on Ichigo's bed. The cat walked in a circle and made himself comfortable before, grinning at Ichigo with a cat like smile. In a poof of smoke Ryou was sitting on her bed, smirking at her.

"Ryou, what are you doing here?" Ichigo inched closer to her bed, before sitting on the edge.

"I came to see you, of course. Why else would I be here?"

"I don't know. Why are you here?! Get out of my house!" Ichigo cried, glaring at him. Her face flushed a bright red (from anger or her thoughts about Ryou, she wasn't sure).

"You really want me to leave?" Ryou moved closer to Ichigo, staring into her brown eyes the entire time.

"N-no."

"I thought so. Then I'm gonna stay." Ryou grinned at Ichigo, who blushed and looked up at the ceiling. She laid back against her pillows at the top of her bed, trying to think of something to say to the boy, who had been on her thoughts for hours.

"So what are you doing up this late anyway? I know your usually one to fall asleep almost as soon as you get in bed." Ryou said, stretching out on her bed. His foot bumped against Ichigo's on accident and she blushed even more. But she kept her foot there anyway, not really bothered by it.

"I was thinking."

"About?"

"Masaya.....and someone else."

"Like who?"

"If I wanted you to know I would've told you, Ryou."

"Maybe you do want me to know, you're just afraid to say it." Ichigo sighed. Ryou was exactly right, she wanted him to know, she just was afraid to tell it. She wanted him know about her feelings for him, but didn't know how to tell him. It would be hard to be around Ryou now and Ichigo knew it.

"Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not."

"Your ears are out, Ichigo."

"They are?!" Ichigo's hands flew to her head, but she felt nothing there. "Ryou!"

"They're about to be. You're really nervous and I wanna now why."

"Because...I don't know why. I just am. Get off my case, ok?"

"Why? Isn't this what Kish did to you all the time?" Ryou sat up and moved closer to Ichigo.

"No, he just stole kisses and annoyed me to no end."

"Stole kisses, huh? Like this?" Ryou kissed her before she could protest to anything. He didn't yank away like Kish always did and he didn't half way kiss her like Masaya did. His kiss was demanding an answer; demanding to be returned. Ichigo obeyed the command he silently gave and kissed him back with everything she had. Her fears, her heart, all of her feelings for him were put into one kiss. Ryou's arms came around her waist and pulled her closer and before Ichigo knew it, she was sitting in Ryou's lap, her tongue playing gently with his. And neither of them ever turned into cats.

**At Mint's House**

"I don't know what to do...I'm so in love with you...." She sang along with music coming from the lower floor of her house. Her parents were having another party and she was confined to her room. Mint was bored and had nothing to do. She was supposed to be sleeping, but with all the noise form downstairs there was no way she could do that.

"I know! I'll go to the cafe! I know they have something for me to do. Maybe Keiichiro still up...." At the thought of her love interest, Mint blushed brightly, not daring to let her thoughts continue. She had fallen in love with him sometime after she had met him, with his looks and his kind heart and....Mint was losing herself in her thoughts and had to stop them. Grabbing a coat from her closet, Mint snuck out of her house. She transformed and flew to the cafe, changing back to regular self when she got to the door. She opened it slowly only to find all of the lights inside off.

"Hello? Is anybody here?" Mint knew Keiichiro was only seventeen and wouldn't be out doing a whole lot. "Maybe he's in the lab." Mint continued to walk past the kitchens until she reached the stairwell to the lab. "Keiichiro? Are you still here?"

"Mint?" Keiichiro looked up from the analysis he was doing on a Mew Aqua to find Mint standing in front of the stairwell. He had just been thinking about her and as if someone was listening to him there she was before him, in a coat and her....pajamas. Keiichiro chuckled lightly, causing Mint to blush.

"What? What's so funny?"

"I was just noticing your...attire."

"My attire...? OH!" Mint, in her haste to see Keiichiro, had forgotten all about the fact that she still had on her pajamas. She blushed in embarrassment and Keiichiro immediately felt bad.

"Don't be embarrassed, Mint. They're cute pajamas." Keiichiro said, with a smile.

Mint put her coat on the back of a chair and sat down next to Keiichiro,"You think so?"

Keiichiro nodded, "Blue looks very good on you."

"Thanks." Mint smiled back at him with a slight blush on her face. She looked at the computer screen and back at Keiichiro,"Working on Mew Aquas?"

"Yes, I think if I can find a way to harness their power, you all will get new stronger attacks." Keiichiro said, looking back at the computer screen. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, "I've been working on this since....8. It's starting to really annoy me."

Mint's eyes widened in shock. She had never heard Keiichiro say anything annoyed him. Ever. She didn't even know **IF **Keiichiro could be annoyed. Obviously he could.

"Maybe you should rest. I'll make us some tea and you can tell me all about your research and how far you've gotten." Mint took Keiichiro's hand and pulled him gently out of the chair. He followed her up the stairs, willingly and let her lead him to the kitchen. She moved him to the chair and table at then very end of the kitchen, and smiled.

"Sit." She said, smiling all the while. It seemed her smile was contagious because in a moment Keiichiro was smiling too. Mint got some honey tea out of a cabinet and two tea cups, with saucers. She poured hot water into a tea pot and put the tea bags in.

"So I take it you make tea often?" Keiichiro said, watching her. Mint nodded and set a cup and saucer in front of him. Then she sat in the chair next to him and placed her cup and saucer down.

"Yes. I have my own double burner stove in my room, so I can have tea whenever I want it. It calms my nerves and keeps me up, but it also makes me sleepy all at once."

"I get it. You have the energy to stay up, but if you went to sleep, you go right to bed."

"Exactly."

"For a fifteen year old, you're pretty complex, Mint."

"Thanks Keiichiro." The two talked for about four minutes longer, when the tea pot began to squeal loudly. Mint got up and shut the burner off quickly and got two pot holders. She took the tea pot and told Keiichiro to hold out his cup. She poured tea into his cup and then poured some into her own then placed the pot back on the stove. She had reached over the pot to put the pot holders back when she burnt her finger.

"Owwwwwwww!" She cried, holding her finger. She let it go to see her fingertip bright red.

Keiichiro got up from his seat and walked over to her, "Let me see." He held his hand out and Mint placed her now burnt finger in it. "Ow. That looks like it hurts."

"It does." Mint looked up at Keiichiro face to find him looking at her injury.

"Want me to kiss it and make it better?" Keiichiro said, with a grin. Mint giggled and nodded and to her surprise, he did just as he asked. He kissed her finger softly, making sure he didn't make her feel more pain instead of making it better.

Mint blushed bright red when he pulled away,"T-thanks. It's starting to feel better already."

Keiichiro smiled, "Good. Now, why don't we drink some tea together?"

"That'd be wonderful."

End of Chapter 4


	5. Lettuce's New Attack

Always Doesn't Last Long

By: Sailorjj07

5. Lettuce's New Attack

A/n: I've updated!! YAY!!

Disclaimer: I do not own! Wish I did though!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

Ichigo and Chocolate were walking to school together when they ran into Masaya on the way there. He had a happy smile on his face and he looked like he was delighted to see Ichigo. Chocolate nodded and walked ahead, into the school, not wanting to be in the way.

"Ichigo...Hi. I haven't seen you in a while." Masaya said, smiling at her. Ichigo gave him a small smile back, biting down any rude remarks she was going to say.

"I know...I was kind of doing it on purpose. I can't really talk to you without my heart hurting, Masaya. I can't." Ichigo was about to be in tears, but she held them back, bravely. Masaya had a look of concentration on his face, making Ichigo wonder just what he was thinking about.

"Then why don't you be with me again?" Masaya asked, his face almost lighting up at the idea.

"I...I can't." Ichigo answered, not looking at his face.

"Why not?" Masaya tried to look into her eyes for some kind of answer, but since she had her head down, he couldn't see or tell anything.

"I just...Masaya, I can't! Why do you need to know why?! Just know that I can't be with you!" Ichigo turned and ran into the school, and Masaya watched as a tear fell on the ground behind her.

"Why not...?"

**In The School**

"Ichigo, I'm so sorry." Chocolate said, hugging her new friend. They were in the girls' bathroom, trying to clean Ichigo's face of tear stains. But because she kept crying it wasn't working well.

"He acts like he actually loves me! Chocolate, he acted like he really loved me and I yelled at him! What if he really does love me?" Ichigo cried, burring her face in her hands and trying not to feel like an idiot.

"Because, if he really loved you, he'd love Mew Ichigo as well. You know that. You loved him, no matter what, and he has the nerve to tell you to quit being a Mew? Ichigo, that is not love at all." Chocolate said, hugging her tighter.

"Maybe I made the wrong mistake, Chocolate! Maybe I chose the wrong path!"

"Ichigo, stop it. You didn't choose the wrong thing. You chose to let him go. You have to accept that and go on!"

"O-ok...I'll try." Ichigo said, sniffling still. Her ears had come out and after Chocolate help her wash her face; they managed to get her ears and tail to go away.

"So...why didn't you go back to him, when he asked?"

"How did you-?"

"Ichigo, I have the DNA of a fox. I'm learning how to use it. Hearing is an added bonus." Chocolate grinned, making Ichigo giggle softly at her.

"I can't...Because...I have feelings for Ryou." Ichigo whispered to her, blushing hotly.

**At 3:30**

"Another happy wonderful day at work!" Chocolate cried, stretching. She was sitting at a table in her uniform, trying not to take the chocolate éclair on the tray sitting in front of Mint. Mint had first pick of the sweets and she didn't want her to get the éclair.

"I think I want....." Mint's hand stopped over the éclair and then moved to the pastry next to it, "This one!"

"Whew!"

"Chocolate, you ok?" Mint asked her, noticing her sigh of relief.

"Fine! Fine!" Chocolate answered, smiling sheepishly. The rest of the group just looked at her weirdly, and then went about picking pastries. Chocolate was eating her éclair when she noticed a ribbon go by the back window. Then she heard a very long and quiet whistle. _'What's he doing here? He's gonna get us killed!'_

"Ummmm.....I'll be back. I need some fresh air." Chocolate called over her shoulder, going out the back door behind the kitchen. She opened the door quietly, going through it and closing it quickly, making sure no one was around. "Kish, what are you doing here?!"

Her reply was a long, delightful kiss that made her want to melt. "I missed you." Kish had a grin on his face from surprising Chocolate, but it slowly went away from the look on her face. "Are you not happy to see me?"

"Oh, I am! I missed you so much while I was at school!" Chocolate threw her arms around the floating alien's neck, making him blush and sigh in happiness. "It's just that...Well I don't want us to get caught. I don't know how my team would react to us being together."

"I know..." Kish leaned his head against her shoulder, making her blush at how close he was.

"Well, as long as you know."

"But I came to warn you..." Kish pulled away from her, holding her at arms length so he could see her face, "Pie has been ordered for us to attack."

"You're kidding?!" Chocolate didn't know if she could fight Kish now because of their relationship.

"No, I'm not. Pie's been ordered to attack because our planet ruler hasn't received any reports from us in the past week." Kish sighed, "It's my fault. I should've sent a fake one, but the computer monitors all of our battles from space, so we can learn from our mistakes."

"It's alright, Kish. We'll just have to fake. Or you can fight someone else the entire time."

"But they're your friends."

"So?"

"Which means everytime I attack them, I'll be thinking about how mean I'm being to the people you care about." Kish's fist began to tighten and untighten from the battle raging inside his mind. He didn't want to fight any of the Mews anymore. But he had too; for the sake of his home planet.

"Kish..." Chocolate reached out and grabbed his closed fist, opening it and settling her hand against it. "I'm here with you. Don't try to take this all by yourself. If you don't want to fight me, then don't. Why don't we both turn up sick tonight?" Chocolate asked, grinning.

"I can't do that. My friends need me, fox."

"And mine do too...So, I guess that means we'll just have to fight each other." Chocolate looked down at the ground sadly, while Kish stood beside her staring off into space. Suddenly he grabbed Chocolate's wrist, pulling her into him and hugging her tightly.

"Chocolate...If I do end up fighting you, you have to forgive me. Please." Kish buried his face in her hair, memorizing her scent. He found she smelled like chocolate and that she tasted that way too.

"Kish, I'd forgive you if you shoved a sword through my heart." Chocolate replied, smiling to herself.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that, my little fox." Kish kissed her playfully, knowing Chocolate would want more. When she was about to kiss him again, he floated into the air, grinning his face off. "We'll continue this later!"

"Ok! Bye Kish!" Chocolate waved as he flew off, smiling widely. When she came back inside, everyone noticed the flush on her face, but didn't dare comment.

**At 5:30**

_'The attack will be soon...'_ Chocolate looked up at the window, wondering when they would hear Ryou call them and tell them where to go. It was only a matter of time.

"Chocolate, you ok?" Ichigo asked, seeing the worried expression on her friend's face. Almost as soon as it had come, it was gone and Ichigo barley remembered it was there.

"I'm wonderful, Ichigo. How are you?"

"I'm ok..." Ichigo looked at her questioningly before walking away to a table and taking orders. Chocolate continued to wipe down the table when a weird ringing was heard. Everyone thought it was a phone, but when Pudding pulled it out of her pocket it looked like a two-way radio. As soon as she realized it was her little communicator thingy ringing, she ran into the kitchen and out the backdoor.

"Tar-Tar, what's going on?" Pudding asked, worry laced in her voice. Tart told her the whenever they were going to attack, he would tell her and he gave her a communicator so he could warn her ahead of time.

"We're going to attack in 30 minutes, Pudding. I don't want to...But we have to...Please be ready. I don't want you to get hurt." Tart's voice was very clear over the communicator and Pudding could hear the sadness in his voice. He really didn't want to fight her.

"O-ok Tart-Tar. We just have to be extra careful and not hurt each other. We can play fight!"

"Play fight?"

"Yes, act like we're fighting, but not mean it at all."

"Good idea. For a monkey girl, you're pretty smart, Pudding."

"I know!" Pudding giggled and then Tart got off the communicator. Pudding put it back in her pocket and went back into her job, receiving weird looks from everyone.

_'Why's everyone so jumpy? Even Zakuro seemed a little weird today...'_ Mint was looking at the three girls' faces and saw the same thing from each. Worry, fear, and sadness laced each of the fake smiles they put on for the customers.

"Mint, do you know what's going on?"

"No clue."

"Girls! I did it!" Keiichiro came into the cafe with a grin on his face. Ryou was walking behind him with a happy smirk, making Ichigo want to melt. He was starting to have that affect on her.

"What'd you do?" Mint asked, excitedly. She knew exactly what he was talking about, since she had helped him with it last night. The other girls gathered around him, as Ryou told all of the customers that they had twenty minutes before they closed. He went and put up the sign saying they were closed and locked one of the doors. Then he went back to the group, who was listening to Keiichiro with interest.

"I've figured out how to use the Mew Aquas to give you stronger attacks!" Keiichiro said, happily. Mint was happy for him as well and was happy she could help.

"Really?!" Lettuce cried, happily. _'Now I can give those aliens a piece of my mind! I can't wait to get a hold of the Mew Aqua first!'_

"Yep. If we get in a battle, I'll send Ryou to tell you what to do."

"Ok!" The entire group said, together. Ryou smirked at his girls' enthusiasm. Then his eyes landed on Ichigo and he found her staring at him from across the circle around Keiichiro. Their eyes caught and held, making Ichigo blush brightly and turn away. Ryou's smirk got wider and he walked away from the circle.

"Now, all we gotta do is finish clean up and we can go home!" Lettuce said a smile on her face. She had become more outspoken that year and was beginning to not be as shy. Mint accused her of having a new boyfriend, but Lettuce never denied it. Of course, the other girls doubt it. They loved Lettuce dearly, but they knew she could be extremely shy.

"Yup!" Ichigo agreed, starting to wipe off tables. The remaining four Mews started to go around cleaning things as well.

**20 Minutes Later**

"Girls! The aliens are attacking again!" Ryou yelled up the stairs, from the lab. The Mews ran down the stairs quickly, making sue not to trip. When they all gathered around the computer and Ryou, he began speaking.

"They're at the zoo again. But this time it's all three of them." Ryou typed furiously and a picture of the zoo popped up. It turned into a video and it showed when the aliens had started attacking.

"Well then, let's go!" Ichigo cried, transforming before she ran out of the cafe. The other Mews followed suit and they ran to the zoo as a group.

**At The Zoo**

The girls were surprised at all the damage the animals and the aliens were doing together. The animals had turned their cages into shreds and were currently chasing people around, scaring the heck out of them.

"Stop it this instant! The Mew Mews are here and we're going to stop you!" Ichigo cried, running up to Kish. He smirked and his two alien friends came to his side soon.

"So you finally came. I actually thought we might be able to cause chaos without being interrupted." Kish smirk only grew as Ichigo got angry.

"You'll pay for trying to destroy our planet!" Ichigo pulled out her bell, "Ribbon Strawberry Check!" Ichigo's attack missed the three alien, who had dodged it.

"You missed! My turn!" A ball of energy grew in Kish's hand and he released it, letting it fly at the Mew Mew's leader. Kish didn't miss and Ichigo fell to one knee.

"You'll pay for that!" Mint cried, flying up to attack him.

"Lettuce, you go find the Mew Aqua, so we can repair this damage! But remember don't use all of it!" Mint cried, dodging Kish. He had managed to hit her about twice and her resolve was falling. Chocolate had occupied herself with Pie, while Zakuro was working on Tart. Pudding was putting all the animals in Pudding Rings, so they would stay still.

"And don't you move!" Pudding said, to the confused and scared animals.

"Kish, you'll p-pay..." Mint had fallen to the ground, trying to stay up. She and Ichigo were leaning against each other, holding each other up.

"And how will I pay, Mew Mint? You and your leader can't do a thing to me. You're too weak." Kish answered, with a smirk. He took his time walking to them, but was knocked out of the way by Chocolate.

"I'll make you pay, Kish! I won't stand for you to beat up my friends!" Chocolate had a look in her eyes that said, "Play Along" and Kish did what he was told.

"If your friends can't beat me, what makes you think you can?!"

"Cause I beat Pie." Chocolate sounded very happy about the fact that she managed to beat Pie. Of course she was lying, which made Kish really wonder where he was.

"Pie?! You beat Pie?! Now, I'll have revenge!" Kish knew he didn't talk like that and so did Chocolate, but Ichigo and Mint seemed convinced.

"Over my dead body!" Chocolate yelled back. They began to fight each other, missing on purpose and moving their battle until they knew they were out of everyone's sight. They had somehow managed to stop in the seal exhibit, which was on a lower floor.

"Oh wow. Fake fighting takes alot out of me." Chocolate said, leaning against Kish's chest, breathing heavily. He draped his arms around her, breathing heavily as well. Chocolate looked up, making their foreheads touch and their breath mingle.

"Who're you telling? I've never fake fought before and I hate it! I don't ever wanna do that again." Kish whispered, his eyes meeting Chocolate's. They stared into one another's eyes for a long time before Kish leaned forward and kissed her softly. Chocolate fell into the kiss and felt like she was melting. She decided she wanted to stay there for a very long time.

**With The Other Mews**

"I finally found the Mew Aqua!" Lettuce cried, holding the small jar up. Masha flew over to her and made a weird noise.

"Put half of the Mew Aqua into Masha and drink the other half." Came Keiichiro's voice from inside Masha.

"Drink?!"

"Just do it, Lettuce."

"O-ok." Lettuce did as she was told and then she drank the rest of the Mew Aqua. It tasted like cotton candy and Lettuce made sure she got it all.

"I feel weird..." Lettuce began to swoon and her body began to glow bright green. She felt her powers get stronger and knew what she had to do. "Now to find those stupid aliens."

"Your new attacks are elemental." Keiichiro said, into the intercom watching from Masha's camera.

"Ok." Lettuce ran off in search of the three aliens, with Masha flying behind her.

**With Kish and Chocolate**

"Kish, we have to go back." Chocolate whispered, between kisses. Kish was trying his hardest to ignore what she said, but when she pulled her mouth away softly, he groaned.

"I don't wanna." He said, moving away from her with a frown.

"We have to Kish." Chocolate replied, walking up the stairs. Kish nodded and flew ahead of her, going to see what was going on. He tried to control the heat in his body and stop himself from thinking anymore about what had happened. He was very surprised when all of the Mews were in a group and his two friends were flying above them.

"Kish! Did you get rid of her?!" Tart asked, watching his friend fly over to them.

"No. She got away."

"You hear that? Your new friend left you!" Pie said, smirking at the sad look on the girls' faces.

"No, she didn't! Chocolate would never desert us!"

"And I didn't!" Chocolate came from a different way the Kish had, so not to raise suspicion. Chocolate grinned at her friends, even though her dress was dirty and she had a few cuts on her arms. Kish wondered how she got those, but decided to ask her later.

"I got you, you stupid aliens!! Lettuce Aqua Rush!" Lettuce had a very angry expression on her face while she executed her new attack. Water began to appear every where, swirling around Lettuce before she released it all in the form of a tornado. The Mew Mews watched as the tornado took the three aliens high in the air before throwing them forcefully into the ground. Three imprints were in the ground when the aliens landed and they could barely fly when they got out of them.

"Y-you'll pay f-for t-that..." Kish said, glaring and trying his hardest to stay up in the air. Then he disappeared in a flash; his two friends following suit.

"YAY! LETTUCE, YOU DID IT!!" Ichigo cried, hugging her happily. They jumped up and down in the air, while the other girls crowded around them, praising Lettuce on her new attack. But only two Mews really meant it.

End Chapter 5


	6. More Aliens

Always Doesn't Last Long

By: Sailorjj07

6. More Aliens

A/n: I have not updated in such a long time! This is so weird! Sorry guys! I'm suffering from a MAJOR writer's block!

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

"Tart, Lettuce didn't hurt you too much did she?" Pudding held Tart as tightly as she could without making his body hurt. He had little cuts all over his arms and legs, but he came to see Pudding anyway. After she helped put medicine on all his wounds, she gave him some candy to help him get some energy back.

"No, I should be okay." Tart answered, leaning against Pudding. He held her gently around the waist, refusing to let his arms grow stiff from not moving them. Pudding ran her hand slowly down his arms, wincing everytime she felt the slightly bruised skin.

"I'm so sorry, Tar-Tar. I didn't mean for you to get beat up that badly."

"It's okay. You didn't know. We'll just have to be much more careful and we have to make ourselves stronger. That's all."

"I hope so, Tar-Tar." Pudding kissed his cheek softly then rested her head against his. Tart smiled at the girl beside him, and then began to chew on his gumdrops thoughtfully.

**With Zaruko**

"Pie, our new attacks will be strong. You have to be ready for them next time." Zaruko sipped her tea, looking at Pie evenly. He nodded and took a sip of his own apple tea, savoring the flavor of the only earth drink he'd ever had.

"I intend to be very ready. And I warn you of a counter-attack." Pie smirked at Zaruko, who smirked back, sipping on her tea again.

"A counter-attack? How interesting…."

**With Mint**

Mint never knew how she ended up with Keiichiro again, that night. Something just drew her to him. Currently, Keiichiro was teaching her a few basic things for the Mew's computer. Mint never was one to work with an awful lot of technology, but when Keiichiro was the one teaching her, it was much easier for her to understand.

"And then you click this and there it is!" Keiichiro clicked on an icon with the computer mouse and Mint watched as live video began to appear on the screen. Obviously Ryou had used his immense riches to install secret cameras all over Tokyo.

"Kei, that was one of the easiest things in the world! I thought computers were so much harder to work!" Mint cried, happy to be taught something new.

"Kei?"

"It's my new nickname for you. Don't you like it?"

"I love it." Keiichiro grinned at her, and then proceeded to teach her something else on the computer.

**With Lettuce**

"Lettuce, honey! Come eat!" Lettuce's mom yelled up the stairs. Lettuce got off of her bed and trotted down the stairs happily, smiling at her mother. Her mom smiled back and followed her daughter into the dining room.

**With Chocolate**

"Kish, you aren't hurt too badly are you? Oh, I didn't know it would hit you that hard!" Chocolate was about to be in tears, looking over the wounds inflicted on Kish. The alien rolled his eyes and smirked at her, wincing slightly when she poked a sore spot.

"Chocolate, I'm fine."

"No you are not! You're lying and you know it! Kish, your injured and you brush it off like nothing is wrong!" Chocolate cried, exasperated. Here she was worrying her head off over him and he says that he's fine.

_'As if!'_

_'You forgot I can hear you….'_

_'Ahahaha! Of course not. I wanted you to hear me.'_

"Who's lying now, Chocolate?"

"I'm not lying!"

"Whatever fox."

"Why are you at my house again?"

"Because you told me to be here."

"Well maybe I want you gone."

"Do you?" Kish lifted an eyebrow, then smirked at Chocolate, "that's too bad, cause I'm not going anywhere."

"Darn." Chocolate grinned and poked Kish softly in the side again. She watched as he winced slightly and smirked, "and if you continue to be mean to me, I will poke you harder where it hurts."

"Where it hurts? Where exactly is that?"

Chocolate laughed and poked Kish in the back. He winced again and then laughed softly, "Okay, so you do know where it hurts.

"Well duh! I know where she hit you at. It went in like…..slow motion….I wanted to run to you so badly, Kish. Don't ever get hit like that again. I don't think I'll be able to keep quiet next time." Chocolate laid her head gently against Kish's shoulder, hoping she didn't bring him any pain.

"Are you telling me to be careful?"

"No, I'm telling you to be very careful."

"Who says I have to listen?"

"If you value our relationship, you'll do as I ask."

"Fine Chocolate….Fine."

**With Ichigo**

"Ryou! Stop coming to my house and not asking anyone! It's rude!" Ichigo cried, when she opened her window for the small kitten again. Alto just purred and then jumped onto Ichigo's bed, changing back into his human self.

"I am asking someone. I asked you when you were at work, remember?"

"Yeah, but you were-", Ichigo was shut up when Ryou kissed her firmly on the mouth. When he released her, Ichigo gave a delighted sigh, "That's what you were doing earlier and that's why I can't remember anything!"

"Oh. Opps." Ryou said, smirking at Ichigo. Ichigo rolled her eyes and smacked him with her pillow.

"Opps is right! You almost got us caught too!"

"That gets on my nerves."

"What? Getting us caught?"

"No, hiding."

"But we have to Ryou."

"I know. That doesn't mean I like it. I think if I choose to be with my number one weapon, they should let me and get it over with."

"Your number one weapon?"

"That's what you are, remember? I told you that before."

"And I was mad, remember?"

"I think it's cool to be an ultimate weapon." Ryou watched as Ichigo blushed, making her ears come out. He petted them gently, watching as Ichigo began to purr gently.

"I guess with you, it is a cool thing." Ichigo leaned against Ryou and let him pet her ears, closing her eyes in comfort.

**The Next Morning**

When Ichigo woke up she was by herself, wrapped up in her blankets. She looked around her room slowly, wondering where Ryou had gone. She then looked out her window and saw a kitten jump down from the tree, directly beside her bedroom window.

"Ryou……"

"ICHIGO! IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP!" Ichigo's mom yelled from the kitchen.

"OKAY!" Ichigo yelled back. She stretched her arms in front of the window and then ran down the stairs, smiling widely as she passed her mother.

"Good morning, Mom!"

"Good morning, Ichigo!" Her mother answered, smiling back.

"Someone's in a good mood today." Ichigo's dad commented, smiling at his daughter then going back to his newspaper.

"Yup!" Ichigo replied, eating her breakfast.

"Well that's good then."

"Who is he, Ichigo?" Her mom asked, with a wide smirk on her face. Ichigo grinned wider and blushed, putting her head down.

"'He'? Ichigo, what's your mother talking about?" Her dad's eyes moved from his newspaper to Ichigo's face and he immediately saw the blush on her face.

"N-nothing Dad…."

"ICHIGO'S GOT A NEW BOYFRIEND!" Her mother cried joyfully, making Ichigo blush brighter.

_'Uh-oh...I'm really in for it now…" _Ichigo looked at her parents and gave a very big sigh.

**With Chocolate**

"Chocolate, I have to go….." Kish whispered to the half-awake girl, in his arms. She yawned and nodded, still trying to wake herself up.

"Okay Kish…." Chocolate whispered back, moving herself away from him slightly. She yawned again and gave him a sleepy smile. "Aren't you supposed to be leaving?"

"Yeah….But I don't want to go."

"Doesn't matter."

"Why not?"

"Cause you got to go. You can't stay here or I'll get you in trouble. Go Kish. You can come see me later."

"You promise?"

"Of course I promise. Kish, I wouldn't let you not come see me. If you didn't come see me, I'd find a way to see you. I won't let you leave me like that."

Kish nodded and kissed Chocolate on her forehead gently. She grinned at him as widely as she could and watched as he opened her window and hopped out. He turned and waved at her with a small smile on his face, then flew off into the sky.

"Bye Kish…." Chocolate whispered, more to herself than anyone else, closing her eyes again.

**Later**

"Keiichiro, what's this weird thing on the screen?" Mint had gone down to the Mew Mew Lab during the girls' break that afternoon and had been helping Keiichiro monitor the city.

"What weird thing……..Oh no…." Keiichiro looked thoughtful for a second and then without a word picked up Mint and sat her in his lap. Mint's eyes widened at the sudden action, but she stayed quiet. Keiichiro barely seemed to notice his own actions, because he was typing away and not saying a word. Finally he took a break in his typing, watching as several screens began to pop up.

"That isn't a good thing to see." Keiichiro said, not giving away anything. _'What am I doing?'_

"What's it mean, Kei?"

"It means that there are now a lot more aliens around our planet."

"More aliens? As in…..more of Kish, Pie, and Tart?"

"Exactly." Keiichiro began to type away again and Mint watched his face. She was delighted to see a very small blush on his cheeks.

"So what are we going to do?"

"I don't know. Can you go get everyone for me please?"

Mint hopped off of Keiichiro's lap with a smile, "Of course, Kei."

"Thank you." Keiichiro kissed Mint's cheek gently, and then turned back to the computer, once again acting as if what he was doing was a normal thing. Mint blushed brightly before a large grin spread across her face. _'HE KISSED ME!' _Mint ran up the stairs both in happiness and in duty.

"Everyone! We're needed below! More aliens have been spotted!" Mint cried, as soon as she reached the kitchen.

"More aliens!" Ryou ran past Mint and down the stairs before she could answer him. Ichigo was in hot pursuit of him and Lettuce was right behind her. Mint looked at the remaining three, wondering if they were going to go too.

"Ummmmmmmm……..I have to use the restroom….I'll be down in a second." Chocolate said, trying her hardest to look genuine.

"Me too!" Pudding cried, deciding the Chocolate's excuse could be shared.

Zaruko looked at the two weirdly and then walked past the three with as much elegance as she always had. Mint nodded and followed Zaruko hurriedly.

"So………." Chocolate looked at Pudding and realized she was messing with something in her pocket. "What is that?"

"Hmmmm…….What? Oh this! It's……..It's…..ummmmmmmmm……….It's……"

"Pudding, you don't really have to go to the bathroom, do you?" Chocolate asked, looking at Pudding skeptically.

"NO! I don't! I don't! I……." Pudding trailed off, not knowing how to explain herself. She didn't want to get herself and Tart in trouble.

"Pudding…..can I ask you a question?"

Pudding gave Chocolate a weird look, but nodded.

"Have you…..Pudding, have you ever been really good friends with someone you know you aren't supposed to?"

"Yeah…."

"And you just found out something that they need to know, but you're scared to tell them because you don't want to get in trouble for being their friend?"

"YES!"

"So you and Tart are friends!" Chocolate cried, smirking at Pudding. She had known as soon as Pudding had cried out that she needed to use the restroom.

"Yes! I mean-!"

"It's okay….Pudding…." Chocolate lowered her voice to whisper, so that only Pudding would hear her, "Kish and I……are together."

"You guys are-!"

"Yup!" Chocolate grinned and Pudding giggled at her, delighted to share a secret with her newest friend.

"Well me and Tart…..we're together too!"

"Oh cool!" Chocolate said, giggling herself. She calmed herself down after a few seconds. "But for now, let's not tell anyone."

"This will be our secret! Well mine, yours, Tar-Tar's, and Kish's….But you know what I mean."

Chocolate nodded and then motioned for Pudding to show her the communicator that Tart had given her.

"Tar-Tar gave this to me. He told me to use it to talk to him and to call for help if I needed it."

"Well I suggest you use it, so that we can warn them."

"Okay." Pudding pressed a button on the little communicator and a quiet beep came from it. She waited a few seconds and a voice came back, whispering.

"Pudding? Pudding, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Tar-Tar, I need to see you now!" Pudding cried, trying to sound as urgent as possible.

"Can you tell him to bring Kish too?" Chocolate asked, quietly.

"Are you sure you want to do that?"

"Yes. Tell him to bring Kish with him. To the back door of the café. Kish will know what I'm talking about."

"Tar-Tar, can you bring Kish with you?"

"What for? Pudding, you know I can't do that!"

"Tar-Tar, tell him that his girlfriend wants to talk to him."

"His girlfriend? Kish has a girlfriend?"

Chocolate sighed and press the button to talk, "We'll explain it all when you get here. Can you just bring him?"

"Pudding, who is that?"

"That was Chocolate."

"The new Mew?"

"Yup! She knows our secret."

"How come!"

"Tar-Tar, hurry up and get here!"

"Okay, I'm coming." Then the voice went away. Pudding nodded and put the communicator back in her pocket. Chocolate smiled softly at her and they walked together into the Mew Mew Lab.

**In the Lab**

**"**They are obviously from the same planet as Kish and the others. The difference is….They are stronger than the others are." Keiichiro said, still typing away. Mint stood beside him, reading the various things on the computer screen

"Much stronger?" Ryou asked, from the other computer. He was trying to get energy readings, but something was blocking them.

"Well there are six of them." Keiichiro replied, looking at Mint out of the corner of his eye. He smiled and then looked back at the computer.

"So what are we supposed to do?" Ichigo asked, looking between Keiichiro and Ryou.

"We wait." Ryou answered, leaning back in his chair.

"Wait!"

"Yes wait. That's all we can do. We don't have anything on them except that there are six of them. Other than that, we don't know anything."

"We also know that they're from the same planet as Kish and the others." Chocolate added, reading a few things on Ryou's computer. Ryou nodded and looked at Ichigo, "This just means that you girls are going to have to find the Mew Aquas faster, so you all can get new attacks. Especially you, Ichigo."

"Okay." Ichigo nodded, trying to keep the happiness out of her eyes. Ryou saw it anyway and gave her a small smirk, which she answered with a nod.

"So does that mean we're done?" Pudding asked, her eyes darting between the door and Chocolate. Lettuce took notice of this, but didn't say anything.

"Yes. We'll keep you posted if anything happens." Keiichiro didn't even look up as he answered her, still typing away.

"Okay." Pudding almost ran up the stairs, but Chocolate gave her a look and she walked up the stairs quickly, hoping to get out of the door before anyone noticed her missing.

**In the Café**

"Pudding, let's go." Chocolate made sure that she and Pudding were up the stairs and in the kitchen before anyone else. Chocolate had heard the quiet whistle as she came up the stairs and knew they were outside, waiting.

"Okay." Pudding lead the way into the kitchen, then held the door open for Chocolate. The two girls were met with the alley behind the café, but the two aliens were not in sight.

"Chocolate!" Kish came down from the air to put his arms around her, and then saw the serious look on her face, "What's wrong?"

"Kish, do you know anything about the new aliens that are here?"

"Aliens? What aliens?" Tart came from the end of the alley, sucking on a lollypop and grinning so widely his fangs were showing. Pudding ran to him and nearly tripped, throwing herself into his arms.

"TAR-TAR, I MISSED YOU!"

"So you told her?" Kish asked, looking at Chocolate. _'Is that what you're worried about?'_

"Yeah, I told her and no, I'm not worried about that. Kish, these new aliens are from your planet. There are six of them and I think they came here for the same reason that you did."

"You mean for the same reason I had."

"Right. Have you seen them or heard anything from them?" Chocolate asked a serious expression still on her face. _'If Kish and the others don't even know there here, then that means we're in for some VERY big trouble.'_

"I haven't seen them, nor have I heard anything from them. They sent a transmission this morning, but all the said was that they were passing by."

"Well obviously, they lied. They're on the opposite side of our planet as we speak."

"So they're hiding behind your planet?"

"Exactly."

"Damn it."

"My thoughts exactly."

End Chapter 6


	7. The New Enemy

Always Doesn't Last Long

By: Sailorjj07

7. The New Enemy

A/n: I am so honored! A very nice fan of mine sent me an e-mail and asked me to update. She told me how her sister and her friends read my story and I felt so touched. So this chapter is for you! Oh yeah! And I found out how old Keiichiro really is! But since this is my fic, I want Keiichiro to be younger, so he is still 16!

Disclaimer: I don't own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

"So what are we going to do?" Pudding asked, looking between the other three outside in the alley with her.

"That's what I'm wondering." Tart added, looking at the older two.

"I'm thinking we don't tell them that we know where they are." Chocolate said, a thoughtful look crossing her face.

"What good will that do? That'll only let them think we're stupid." Kish cried, wondering why Chocolate would come up with such a dumb idea.

"Well obviously they're right in thinking that since they told you they were just passing through and you believed them!" Chocolate retorted, glaring at her boyfriend.

"At least we can fight them!"

"We can too! We can probably beat them since that's what we do to you all the time!"

"You wanna see!"

"Pick a time and a place, jerk!"

"Right here and right now, fox!"

"I'm ready whenever you are!" Chocolate's ears were out and her tail was swishing madly behind her. Kish had taken to the air, hovering in the air, his face floating slightly above hers. They stared at each other, annoyance clearly on their faces. Suddenly, Kish's eyes softened and he wrapped his arms around Chocolate.

"I'm sorry. I'm just…..so worried about you. I don't want you to be hurt by these people."

"I know and I feel the exact same way. Kish, we have to be there for each other, right?"

"Exactly." Kish pet Chocolate's ears gently, and smirked when her eyes closed slowly.

"They are so weird." Tart whispered, watching them.

"I know." Pudding agreed, watching them as well.

**Inside the Café**

"I wonder if they will attack today?" Ichigo asked, putting down a heart shaped tray. She picked up another tray with five apple parfaits and looked at the three inside the kitchen.

"I doubt it. They're probably making plans still." Mint told her, sipping on some apple tea.

"Mint, you just drunk some tea twenty minutes ago!"

"I want some more, what's wrong with that?"

"It could be bad for you if you drink too much." Keiichiro said, coming up behind Mint and nearly making her drop her tea on the floor.

"Oh h-hi Keiichiro! What brings you to the kitchen?" Mint cried, trying to regain her composure.

"I actually came to get some tea, but it looks like this entire batch is gone."

"Oh! I'll make you some more! And I'll bring it to you as well! Just go back down to the lab," Mint gave him a gentle push out of the kitchen, "And I'll bring it to you in about ten minutes."

"Are you sure? I can just make some myself."

"Oh no! I can do it! No problem!" Mint said, laughing sheepishly. She tried to keep the slight blush off her face and took a deep breath before waving at Keiichiro as he walked back down the stairs.

"What was that all about?" Ichigo asked, wondering why there was a blush on her friend's face. She looked at Mint's eyes and it hit her.

"YOU LIKE KEIICHIRO!"

"I DO NOT!"

"YOU DO TOO! Wait, till Ryou hears this!" Ichigo stuck her tongue out at Mint and walked away quickly to take the parfaits to the table that ordered them.

"Has anyone seen Pudding? She was saving a piece of gum for me." Lettuce looked around the kitchen at everyone else, trying to find out where Pudding was.

"I think she went to the bathroom." Mint told her, putting a tea pot on the stove. She poured the contents of the tea packet into the pot and then turned the stove up to high heat.

"Did Chocolate go with her?" Ichigo asked, looking at Mint for an answer.

"I think so."

"I'll go check then." Ichigo walked out of the kitchen to toward the restrooms.

**Outside**

"Kish, we have to go back now. They'll get suspicious if we're gone too long." Chocolate said, moving herself away from the pouting alien.

"That's right, Tar-Tar. We gotta go now." Pudding added, handing him a gum drop. Tart popped the piece of candy in his mouth and kissed Pudding on the cheek.

"See you later, monkey girl." Tart waved, and then floated higher in the air above Pudding.

"Bye bye, Tar-Tar!" Pudding waved at her alien boyfriend, then watched as Kish gave Chocolate a full blown kiss in front of the two of them.

"Kish! What was that for?" Chocolate asked, a bright blush covering her cheeks. She held a hand to her lips gently, trying to keep a dreamy look from crossing her face.

"Be careful." He told her, a serious expression on his face.

"You too."

"I will."

"Promise?"

"Only for you." Kish floated up higher in the air beside Tart and then they phased out together.

"Well, I didn't know you two were that close!" Pudding cried, grinning at Chocolate, who was still blushing brightly.

"We're close enough. Now, let's go back inside before we get in trouble."

**Inside the Café's Kitchen**

"Just where were you two?" Mint asked, as soon as Pudding and Chocolate walked back in together. The other girls stood behind her, a questioning look on all of their faces.

"We were taking out the trash! Geez, you guys act like we had run off or something." Chocolate answered, rolling her eyes. She winked at Ichigo, who grinned back and went about her business.

"If you were taking out the trash, how come there is still some in the trash can?"

"Because we only took out two bags." Pudding added, trying to make their cover believable.

"But both of you can carry four."

"Why are you giving us the second degree, Mint?" Chocolate lifted an eyebrow at her team member and walked by her, shrugging her questions off. Pudding just tied her apron back on and grabbed a heart-shaped note pad.

"Ichigo, you can take a break from that side of the room. I can do it." Pudding told her, walking to the west side of the café. Ichigo nodded and watched as Mint looked between Pudding and Chocolate.

"Something is up…." Mint mumbled, but everyone in the kitchen heard her.

"Mint, your tea." Zaruko said, quietly as usual. Lettuce looked between Zaruko and Mint, then shrugged and went on to making the small cakes.

"Oh! Thank you for reminding me, Zaruko." Mint took the tea off the stove and poured some into a tea cup, then placed it on a saucer on a heart-shaped tray. "I'll be back!" Mint yelled, walking down the stairs toward the lab.

**Twenty Minutes Later**

"Ichigo." Ichigo had been wiping down a table, when Ryou came up behind her. He had a warm smile on his face, which was a new thing for him. Ichigo decided right away that she liked it.

"Yes?"

"I just found out something about the aliens. Come to the lab with me."

"Okay." Ichigo stuck the damp towel in the heart-shaped trash bin and carried it to the kitchen. "Can someone take the dishes out and put this bin up for me?"

"I will." Chocolate said, taking the dishes out and putting them in the dishwasher.

"Thanks!" Ichigo gave her friend a giant smile then followed Ryou downstairs.

**In the Lab**

"Mint? You're still down here?" Ichigo asked, as soon as she realized who it was standing behind Keiichiro. Mint nodded and then turned her eyes back to the screen.

"Ichigo, the aliens that came are from the same place as Kish and the others are." Ryou told her, sitting down at the computer next to Keiichiro. Ichigo glanced at Keiichiro's computer screen to find pictures of the aliens.

"THERE REALLY ARE SIX OF THEM!"

"We weren't kidding when we said there was. Those six are part of an elite team from the planet that Kish and the others are from."

"Oh no…" Ichigo said, with a sigh.

"The thing is, Keiichiro and I don't think that Kish and the others know of their arrival. As a matter of fact, I don't even think they know of this little team."

"Our main priority now is to find the mew aquas and possibly get you more help." Keiichiro said, a slight smirk arising on his face. Mint caught on to it and wondered what on earth they were planning.

"Get us more help? How?" Ichigo asked, looking between Keiichiro and Ryou.

"You'll see." They both said together and both Mint and Ichigo looked alarmed.

"Ummmmmmm………..okay….." Mint looked at Ichigo, who looked back at her and shrugged. Suddenly red lights came out of the ceiling and began to flash, while alarms began to go off.

"Time to close up shop, girls! Our alien friends have decided to wreak havoc on the park." Ryou said, and Ichigo nodded, running up the stairs. Mint followed her and instead of going to the kitchen with her, she began to tell the customers that there was an incident in the kitchen and everyone had to leave immediately.

"The aliens are attacking!" Ichigo cried, as soon as she reached the kitchen. The other girls immediately dropped what they were doing and began to help Mint get everyone out of the café.

**Ten Minutes Later**

"Well well well…If it isn't my baby brother, Kish. How are you, little bro?" The leader of the new aliens looked a lot like Kish, with his dark hair and golden eyes. His hair was cut short to his chin and he had a huge smirk on his face. He had on blue pants with a blue and white top that flashed his stomach.

"I'm still good enough to kick your ass, bastard." Kish retorted, floating above his brother.

"But I know who are father is."

"What are you doing here?" Kish looked around, wondering if the Mew Mews would show up, _'Chocolate, please stay where you are. Don't come here….'_

"Since you three took so long, Father sent us in your place. Did I mention that he wants us to kill you three as well?"

"YOU'LL HAVE TO GO THROUGH ME FIRST! CHOCOLATE CLAW SLASH!" Three red laser beam came in contact with Kish's brother's face, leaving a slash mark on his cheek. Chocolate came around the corner with the other Mews following behind her. They all wore confused looks on their faces.

"Chocolate, don't! I can handle this myself!" Kish cried, giving her a stern look. Chocolate just started back at him. Then Ichigo ran up to her and tapped her shoulder.

"What is going on!"

"I'll tell you later. First, we have to deal with these guys."

"Deal." Ichigo turned to Kish's brother, "Who are you and why are you attacking our planet?"

"We are Team E.A.R.T.H."

"Egg, shut up!" Kish yelled, an angry look crossing his face.

"I'm supposed to introduce myself! Geez, just take away my spotlight! As my little brother said, I am Egg, the leader of this elite team."

"LITTLE BROTHER!" All of the Mew Mews said together, looking between Kish and Egg.

"I can see the resemblance…." Pudding whispered, looking at Egg and then Kish.

"I look nothing like him!" Kish cried, frowning.

"And I am much too gorgeous to look like him."

"Egg, shut up! I wanna go next!" A girl in bright pink and white pushed Egg out of the way. She wore a huge smirk on her face, and she held fans in her hand. "My name is Apple. I'm second in command. Fear me!" Apple's skirt fluttered in the air with her movement, as did her shirt that flashed her stomach. She had pink hair with red streaks that went all the way to her back.

"Apple, I don't think saying something like that would scare them." Another guy in all brown and white floated next to her, he waved at the Mew Mews and then licked his lips.

"My name is Rice and I am third in command. My, don't you look delicious…" Rice's glance was on Zaruko and Pie could feel his anger rising.

"Too bad you won't get a taste." Zaruko said, her eyes narrowing. The guy was very rude and perverted to her.

"Hi! I'm Terra! Fourth in command." A girl in dark green and white, floated in front of Rice. She had a short green skirt that went to her middle thighs and a green belly shirt with white ribbons on it. Her hair was dark green and was up in a very high ponytail. Rice put his arms around her waist and nibbled on her ear. "You shouldn't jump in front of me like that. It isn't nice."

"Oh stop it! We're supposed to be attacking them!" Terra said, with a bright blush on her face. Rice released her and smirked at her, licking her earlobe before moving away from her.

"And I am the last and final member. My name is Ham."

"HAM! WHY ARE YOU HERE!" Tart cried, glaring at the little boy in light brown and pink. Ham stuck his tongue out at Tart, and then turned back to the Mew Mews.

"Excuse my STUPID cousin. He doesn't know what he's taking about." He flicked his bright pink hair over his shoulder and waved at Pudding. "Oh, I love monkeys."

"I'm not just a monkey! I'm a girl too and only Tar-Tar can call me that!" Pudding cried, glaring at Ham.

"Tar-Tar? You let her call you that! That's so rich!" Ham fell over laughing in the air at his cousin.

"You too!" Ichigo cried, looking at Pudding. She nodded, but was still glaring at Ham.

"Is there anyone else in this group that has something going on with one of the aliens? Since Pie is the only one left…."

"I am." Zaruko said, glaring at Rice. She barely realized what she had said until Pie looked at her, with a weird look in his eyes.

"You and…..Pie! Oh my…."

"I'd faint, but these people are still destroying our park."

"And where is the sixth alien?" Lettuce asked, counting who all was there.

"Oh Rose? She wasn't feeling well. But her name goes with Rice, since they are twins." Terra said, looking at her nails.

"Now that our introductions are over, can we please get this battle on?" Mint said, looking at everyone.

"Kish, I'm taking your brother out." Chocolate watched as Kish floated down to the ground to stop beside her.

"No, I will."

"Why don't we do it together?"

"Fine. But I get to finish him."

"If you want."

"Oh, baby brother! Look at you, whispering with this human girl! If humans weren't so revolting it'd be cute."

"Oh, his ass is going down." Chocolate muttered, cracking her knuckles.

"You'll regret calling my fox revolting, Egg." Kish said, in a dangerous voice.

"Oh baby brother is mad! Well, let's see what he'll do about it!" Egg held his hand out and a giant energy ball shot out from it. Kish and Chocolate both jump out of the way and began their assault on Egg together.

"Well, Are you going to attack me or not, lovely?" Rice asked, watching Zaruko. She glared fiercely at him and swung her claws, only for him to dodge them.

"Find the Mew Aqua, Pudding!" Ichigo cried, dodging an attack from Apple, who was floating above her. She swung her fans left and right at Ichigo, who jumped and ducked out of the way.

"Strawberry Ribbon Check!" Ichigo watched as Apple knocked her attack out of the way.

"You'll have to do more than that, Strawberry girl." Apple taunted, smirking.

"Masha, where is the Mew Aqua?" Pudding watched as Masha floated in front of her, then lead her off toward a fountain in the park. Ham started to follow her, but Tart blocked his path.

"Hurry Pudding!" Tart yelled over his shoulder, and then turned to his cousin. "Ham, you'll regret ever coming here."

"If you were doing your job I wouldn't have had to come here." Ham said, smirking. He held a small sword that was perfect for his size. He swung at his cousin, who moved out of the way.

"So we are going to fight each other?"

"I've always wanted to kick in your face."

"Bring it, Ham!" Tart yelled, charging at his cousin. And the battle between family began.

**Ten Minutes Later**

"It's like they're taking the energy from our attacks and absorbing it!" Ichigo cried, still dodging Apple's attacks. She and Mint had joined together to fight Apple but she was winning.

"Where is Tart with that Mew Aqua?"

"She should be here soon."

"Masha! I finally found it!" Pudding shoved some of the Mew Aqua inside of Masha and then drank the rest. Her body began to glow yellow and she grinned. "I have so much energy now!" Pudding ran over to Tart and Ham, "Tar-Tar, move!"

"Whatever you say!" Tart ducked and watched as his cousin fell to Pudding's new attack.

"Double Pudding Ring Lighting, Slash!" Pudding threw her rings at Ham and watched as they flew at him with such a speed that they could barely be seen. They hit him on the sides of his stomach then continued past him only to slam into Apple and Rice, hitting both in their arms. Blood flowed from all three and Pudding watched in interest as her rings made a return trip circling around and going back the way they had came. Then suddenly the three began to shake as if they had been struck by lightning. They fell to the ground, smoking.

"Wow! Nice attack Pudding!" Tart cried, watching as his cousin's body shook a little more. His cousin stood up, still shaking slightly.

"Now it's my turn. I'll take care of Terra and Egg. Lettuce Aqua Rush!" Lettuce closed her eyes and took the water from the nearest fountain, slamming into Terra and Egg. The both flew smack dab into some very thick oak trees, sliding to the ground. The five stood up and slowly made there way to the air.

"We'll be back! And we'll bring rose this time! Soon we will bring Deep Blue back to life and there is nothing you can do to stop us!"

"You don't even know who Deep Blue is!"

"Ah, that's were your wrong, little brother. We already have Deep Blue in our possession. We're simply waiting for him to awaken again!" Egg laughed evilly, holding his side, and then phased out with the rest of his group.

"They have Masaya? This won't be good." Chocolate whispered, looking around at everyone's worried faces.

"I hope they bring Masaya back." Lettuce commented and Chocolate lifted an eyebrow. _'Why would she care?'_

End Chapter 7


	8. Joining Forces

Always Doesn't Last Long

By: Sailorjj07

8. Joining Forces

A/n: I've updated again! Hehe! I promised someone I'd make two chapters by the end of this month and I'm keeping my promise. Sorry, I was a little late though!

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

"Now, will someone please tell me what on earth is going on! All I see is a bunch of Mew Mews with a bunch of aliens and somehow my mind doesn't understand it!" Ichigo cried, looking at Chocolate and Kish. Chocolate's ears were flat against her head and she wasn't looking at Ichigo. Kish just smiled nervously (for the first time ever) and then slowly slid his hand into Chocolate's hand.

"Chocolate, do you want to explain to her?"

"No, why don't we explain when Ryou and Keiichiro are here."

"They aren't coming too, are they?"

"No, come to the cafe and meet us." Ryou said, through Masha. Ichigo nodded at the floating puffball and then the entire group took off to the Mew Mew Cafe.

**At the Cafe**

"So who's going to explain all of this to me?" Ryou had a weird look on his face that was a mixture between anger and acceptance. Ichigo watched as his expression switched between the two, but decided not to say anything.

"Well….you see…what had happened was…." Chocolate started to say. She shook her head and tried to think of a better way to explain.

"Me and Chocolate had a little encounter with each other. It was just the two of us at the time. I tried to attack Chocolate while she was by herself, but she did something that caught me off guard. After that I just…..I couldn't get her out of my mind for an instant and that's when we started seeing each other." Kish said, trying to help Chocolate out. He smiled at her and she smiled back, nodding her head in thanks for saving her.

Nodding, Ryou turned to Pudding and Zaruko,"What are your excuses then?"

"Well…In truth Tar-Tar and I have a common like. We both adore candy…I guess that's what brought us together." Pudding told everyone, thoughtfully.

"We decided to see what it was like as friends and found out that being nice to each other was a WHOLE lot easier than fighting each other. After about a month or so, Monkey girl almost begged for me to keep seeing her." Tart said a smirk on his face. He handed Pudding a yellow gum ball, grinning when she began to munch on it happily.

"I think it'd be in your best interest to leave Pie and Zaruko alone." Mint commented, noticing that the couple looked ready to kill. _'They're perfect for each other!'_

"So all three of you guys are 'together', right?" Ryou asked, looking between the three couples. They all nodded, not looking at anyone.

"Then can someone please tell me why you guys have been fighting and hurting each other? We would've had double the amount of people to fight this group!" Ryou cried, looking exasperated. Ichigo gave him a look and he sighed, calming down.

"We thought that Pie and Tart still hated you guys. That's why I helped attack the zoo." Kish said, turning to the rest of the Mew Mews.

"And I thought the same." Pie added, looking at Kish then at the rest of the group. Zaruko glanced at him then crossed her arms over her chest, obviously annoyed.

"Me too." Tart told everyone, putting a hopeful look on his face.

Ryou nodded and sighed again, "The best thing for us to do is….join forces against this group. I doubt you guys will ever fight each other again, now that we all know everyone else's secrets. "

"I agree." Pie said, nodding at both Kish and Tart. He walked up to Ryou and held out his hand.

Ryou shook it, "We're joining forces then. You guys will have to find a place to stay, but you can have jobs here at the café, if you want them."

Kish nodded, pulling Chocolate into his arms with a grin, "I want to spend as much time with Chocolate as I can!"

"Kish! Stop it!" Chocolate said, giggling. Pudding laughed at them and hand Tart a gumdrop.

**In The Lab (5 Minutes Later)**

"Kei, did you hear what's going to happen? We're joining forces with the aliens." Mint sat down in a chair next to Keiichiro, watching as his fingers slid across the keyboard. She glanced at the computer screen, and then looked back at his hands.

"Yeah, Ryou told me as soon as he found out about the new couple we have." Keiichiro answered, not even looking up. Mint nodded and realized what he was looking on.

"ANIMAL DNA EXTRACTS! Keiichiro, what are you guys doing!"

"Well…We were thinking of having more people help."

"By blasting them with that ray thing! Keiichiro, that'd make another five of us! That's too many."

"No, we're only adding two to the growing group. These aliens are strong. It took two of you to fight one. That's not a good thing."

"Well, no but with the added three….We might be able to-."

"I think the additional two to that three will help out a LOT more."

"Who exactly are you going to use?" Mint glanced at Keiichiro's face to see him smiling with an amused look on his face. Mint scooted away from him slightly, wondering what in the world he was planning.

"It's a secret. You'll see soon enough."

"Why don't you just tell me?"

"I can't. Ryou told me not to."

"I won't tell anyone."

"I can't tell you, Mint."

"Please? Kei, I won't tell anyone! I promise."

"……..You promise not to tell….?"

"Kei, I promise I won't tell anyone." Mint held her hand over her heart to help him believe that she wouldn't tell anyone.

"Okay…..well…….They people we're using are….." Keiichiro leaned over and whispered the two people's names in Mint's ear, watching with an amused look on his face as Mint's eyes grew to the size of saucers.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS!"

"You promised not to tell, Mint. I'm holding you at your word. You can't tell. Not a word to anyone. Okay?"

"I promised, so I'll keep quiet. But why on earth did you choose-?"

"No more talking about it. Help me with my research."

"O-okay……" Mint turned to the computer in front of her and began to research the two animals close to extinction.

**Upstairs**

"But how will we pull off the alien look?" Ichigo asked, think that a lot of the customers would freak when they saw Kish, Pie, and Tart.

"The girls that come here won't care about the ear thing. They'll see that they're cute guys in suits and fall in love." Chocolate said, tying the bow tie around Kish's collar. He looked very uncomfortable, but smiled for his girlfriend anyway.

"True. And the guys that come here will be so worried about us that they won't care." Ichigo realized, nodding in agreement.

"Exactly."

"Chocolate...we're will we stay?" Kish asked, looking between the small group gathered in the kitchen.

"You can come live with me, if you want." Chocolate winked at Kish and then grabbed her heart-shaped notepad, walking quickly by him to the tables. Kish smirked mischievously at her then waited by the kitchen to take the food to people's tables.

"I never knew Chocolate was like that..." Ichigo whispered to Ryou, who nodded.

He winked at Ichigo,"Ya know, you're starting to be like that too..." Ryou commented, smirking at Ichigo. A bright blush covered her cheeks and she hurriedly went to the closest table to take an order. Ryou chuckled to himself, and then went downstairs to the lab as Mint was coming up.

_'I can't believe it...' _Mint thought to herself, walking past Ryou. She barely nodded when he said hello to her.

"Mint, are you okay?" Kish glanced at Mint, who almost ran into Pie. She stopped abruptly, realizing what she had almost done.

"Yeah...I...I'm fine..." Mint gave a fake smile and grabbed her apron off the hanger.

"If you say so."

"Kish, can you take that strawberry parfait to table 9?" Ichigo asked, looking down at what she had written. Kish nodded and grabbed a red circle tray (only the girls get hearts), placing a strawberry parfait on top of it.

"Okay!" Kish said, grinning to himself. He had memorized the table numbers ahead of time and knew where the all were.

**In Space**

"ROSE! ROSE, WHERE ARE YOU!" Egg yelled, stomping angrily around the ship. Rice moved out of the way, grabbing Terra as well. She giggled, and then realized that Egg would have run her over, if he hadn't.

"Oh Rice! You saved me!" Terra cried, throwing her arms around him. They started kissing each other and Ham rolled his eyes as the two made out against the wall.

"Would you two get a room?" Ham asked, teleporting himself away from the couple.

"Like they'd ever do that." Apple said, sighing. She followed Egg, wondering what on earth he was so mad about. Egg threw Rose's door open, glaring at her. Rose sat on her bed, filing her nails. She had on a burgundy dress and burgundy ribbons all over her self.

"What?" Rose looked up, with a bored expression on her face.

"I thought you were sick! You just didn't want to come!"

"I was watching, you jerk off! I'll have you know I observed your whole freaking fight! So quit yelling at me!" Rose stood up, getting off her bed. She got really close to Egg's face, daring him to say something back.

"How dare you call me a jerk off! I'll send you home!"

"You couldn't stay away from me that long!"

"No, you couldn't stay away from me that long!"

"I know. I couldn't." Rose smiled at Egg, and then hugged him, making Apple sigh and walk out of the room.

"I swear...All these couples are going to kill me. It makes no sense for them to be that lovey dovey towards each other..." Apple walked to the containment room and placed her hand against the figure floating in the liquid, inside the glass. "Deep Blue...I want someone to love me too. Wake up, so I can be with you."

"He's going to be with me. He already knows who I am." A female figure stepped out of the shadows of the room.

"Who are you!" Apple jumped back, away from the glass and flicked her fans open.

"It doesn't matter. I can help you defeat the Mew Mews. I know there every weakness and I know what Masaya wants."

"Deep Blue? How do you know that?"

"I was here the first time he woke up. He wants the leader of the Mew Mews. He loves her and when he awakens as Deep Blue, she's the first thing he'll go after. I guarantee it."

Apple inched closer and closer to the door as the girl spoke, "How can you do that?"

"Why don't you just trust me?"

Apple slammed the alarm, "Because you snuck on our ship and I don't know who you are."

"So you want my name...Right?"

"Yeah."

"Well..." The figure stepped up into the light and smirked to herself as the light reflected off her glasses, "My name is Lettuce."

"YOU'RE A MEW MEW!"

**On Earth**

"Does anyone know where Lettuce went?" Ichigo asked, looking around the kitchen.

"She said she had to go home for something..." Mint told her, sipping on apple tea.

Tart glanced at her curiously, "Didn't you just drink some tea fifteen minutes ago?"

"Yes, but that was fifteen minutes ago."

Tart sighed and turned to Pudding, "Does she do this all the time?"

"Yep. Everyday."

"Wow...That's a lot of tea."

"Yeah, I know."

Ryou walked into the kitchen, watching as Ichigo came up and put her tray down, "I need to talk to you."

"What about?"

"Follow me and I'll tell you..." Ryou said, walking out of the kitchen with Ichigo following him. He led her to his room and shut the door quietly behind himself. "Ichigo, I know this is going to upset you, but..."

"Ryou, what happened?"

Ryou glanced at the window, not wanting to see Ichigo's face, "There is a letter, sitting on my desk. I want you to read it. Out loud to me." Ryou sat down next to Ichigo and watched as her eyes scanned the envelope. She grabbed his hand and began to read the letter out loud; afraid of what it would say,"

_'Dear Ryou, _

_You have been the best leader to me. Actually you've been even more than that. You've been everything I wanted you to be, except for one thing...Ryou, I wanted you to be my boyfriend, but I see it in your eyes that you love her. Every time you look at Ichigo the love you have for her shows through and I hate it. When I first used my powers on my own to save that baby, and you told me I did a great job, I thought you loved me. I thought you felt the same way I did. But I knew it was all a lie after we came back from the cruise. Ryou, I wish I could say I hate you, but I can't. I'm so in love with you that it hurts to even be near you. So I'm going to be with my second love. The one that Ichigo dropped. I spent time with him after Ichigo dumped him and left him so miserable. I loved him almost as much as I loved you. Now, I'm going to be with him. Don't expect me to come back, because Deep Blue will need me when he's awakened. Tell Ichigo I said congratulations. And warn her too. The quiet one is not going to be quiet anymore!_

_Your ex-love,_

_Lettuce'_

She wrote this! Oh Ryou, what have we done! What have I done?" Ichigo cried, bursting into tears. Ryou just wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back.

"Ichigo, you didn't do anything. You had no control over my feelings or her's or Masaya's. This isn't your fault."

"Yes, it is!"

Ryou moved Ichigo away from himself and stared her in the eyes,"Ichigo, listen to me. This is not your fault! It isn't! You had no control over it! Stop blaming yourself."

"But-!"

"No buts! It isn't your fault!"

"O...Okay..." Ichigo said, sniffing. Ryou shook his head and pet her eyes gently.

"It's not your fault. It isn't."

**Ten Minutes Later**

"Ichigo, what's wrong!" As soon as Ichigo and Ryou walked downstairs together, and Mint saw the look on Ichigo's face, she was out of the kitchen in an instant. Ichigo's ears were drooped and Mint knew something was wrong.

"R-read this..." Ichigo sadly held up the envelope and Chocolate took it from her gently, sliding the letter out. Kish stood behind her and read over his shoulder and watched as Chocolate began to clench her hand into a fist, crumbling up the side of the letter.

"How could she do something like that? HOW?" Chocolate yelled, nearly throwing the letter down. Pie grabbed the letter from her as Kish put his arms around the extremely angry Chocolate, whispering in her ear to calm her.

"What happened? What's it say!" Mint asked, putting her arms around Ichigo, who had begun to cry again.

"Lettuce! She...She betrayed us! She went to them! She joined forces with the enemy!" Chocolate cried, her anger burning in her eyes. Kish began to stroke her ears when they came out of her head and her tail began to swish angrily behind her.

"What?" Pudding questioned, her eyes tearing up.

"You heard me right! She went to them! To be with Masaya!"

"But...She didn't even act like she was mad...I didn't think anything was wrong with her..." Tart whispered, hugging Pudding, who had started to cry quietly.

"This is terrible news." Zaruko said quietly, handing the letter to Tart, so he could read it.

"Then...I guess she is our enemy now..." Ichigo told everyone quietly, and then she began to cry harder.

"Yes. She is our enemy now." Chocolate looked at the ground, with cold determination in her eyes.

End Chapter 8


	9. And The DNA Goes To

Always Doesn't Last Long

By: Sailorjj07

9. And the DNA goes to...

A/n: I am soooo sorry guys! Between work, school, and church I barely have time for anything. THANK YOU TO ALL WHO REVIEWED!

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

"I love the new waiters they have here! They're soo cute!" A girl with blonde pigtails whispered, as Kish walked by her. He winked at her and then place two parfaits down at the table behind her. They were college girls, which surprised Kish. Older women usually never had any interest in him and now they wouldn't leave him alone. He wished Chocolate was there to get angry, so he could see her pout cutely, but she was at school.

"Hey Kish, its 2:30. Wanna head to the school now?" Tart was already in his normal clothes. He had to go pick up Pudding at the other school, which was down the street from Ichigo and Chocolate's school.

"Yeah, sure, let me go change." Kish smiled at the giggling girls and then went into the back room, where there were lockers and changing stalls. He changed into a pair of jeans, a black T-shirt, and some black and white tennis shoes. As each day passed he was getting more used to Earth style clothes. He made sure all of his ribbons were still in place and then headed out the door with Tart.

"So you're going to get Ichigo and Chocolate, right?"

"Duh! We've done this three days in a row and you still don't know where I'm going?" Kish rolled his eyes and kicked a rock, wishing he could just teleport there without getting caught.

"I'm just making sure! See if I ever check on you again!" Tart pouted and threw a piece of candy into his mouth, a habit he had picked up when he wanted to say something extremely mean to someone. Pudding had taught him the trick and he seemed to have made it a habit in three days.

"Tart, go suck an egg."

"No thanks, I have a jaw breaker for that." Tart snickered at Kish's almost bored look. He was always like that when Chocolate wasn't with him. He had asked to go to school with her, but there was no way for that to happen. Not yet anyway.

"Whatever Tart."

"Kish, ya know, if you teleport..."

"You won't tell?" Kish looked up, happy that he could get to Chocolate quicker.

"No, I won't tell, but you can't tell on me either."

"Deal." Kish smiled and felt air rush past his body as he phased out of the area, and reappeared behind a tree near the school. _'I'll have to remember to thank Tart for that later.' _Kish rushed toward the sidewalk and then began to walk like normal as if nothing had happened. He leaned against the stair rail and waited for the bell to ring. _'She's probably sitting in class looking at the clock, waiting for it to ring. She probably missed me just as much as I missed her. At least I hope she does...'_

**BRRRRRRRRIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG**

The bell rung loudly and kids seemly appeared out of no where and filed out the doors. A few of the girl groups walked by Kish, whispering and giggling as they walked past him. He smiled charmingly at them and then turned when he heard someone clearing their throat.

"AHEM!" Chocolate stood at the door, frowning and tapping her foot. Ichigo stood beside her, holding back a laugh at how much trouble Kish would be in.

"Uh, hi?" He said nervously, hoping he hadn't been caught. It was just a little innocent flirting; nothing big. (Or so he thought!)

"Don't 'hi' me, Kish! I saw it with my very own eyes! I watched what you did! You jerk! I don't know what I ever saw in you! Ever!" Chocolate knew she was overreacting, but she didn't care. She walked by Kish in a huff, not even stopping to look at him _'The nerve of him!'_

"Looks like someone's in trouble!" Ichigo smiled, laughing behind her hand at them both. She followed beside Chocolate and then, stuffing his hands in his pockets Kish followed behind them.

"I can't believe she got mad about-" Kish muttered to himself. He gave a huge sigh, but followed the two girls.

"Say something else so I can hurt you, Kish! Don't think I don't hear you! I still have good hearing, you jerk!" Chocolate yelled over her shoulder, daring him to say something to her. Kish, who was surprised by the anger Chocolate was showing, winced, knowing he was in deep trouble.

"Chocolate, maybe you shouldn't be so-"

"I think I should and I will, Ichigo." Chocolate glanced at her friend out of the corner of her eye and then looked back straight ahead. She was mad and she didn't care what anyone thought; that's just how she was when she was angry.

**At 5:00 p.m.**

"She's still mad?" Mint watched as Chocolate slammed a tray down in the sink, surprised that it didn't break in half. Everyone had known of her anger by at least four o'clock. And they all blamed Kish for it.

"If she breaks anything, you're paying for it." Ryou had told him, with an amused smirk. As soon as he had found out why Chocolate was angry, he had gone to tease Kish a little, much to Kish's dismay.

"She won't break anything."

"You'd hope not."

**CRAASSHHHHH**

Everyone turned to the sound of china falling to the ground, and then they noticed Chocolate was standing over it. Chocolate held in her hand a heart-shaped tray, tilted to the side, with spilled tea and broken cups piled at her feet.

Chocolate gave Kish a dark smirk,"Opps. I dropped a whole tray of apple tea." She glared at him, and then walked away, going to Pudding and asking her to make four more cups.

Laughing, Ryou shook his head and went downstairs. Mint grinned and giggled quietly, as did Zaruko and Pudding.

"Looks like you'll be working here to pay off the damages your girlfriend has done." Pie said, with a smirk much like Ryou's. He felt a little bad for Kish, but it was what he got. If he was going to flirt with other girls, he should've at least done it when she wasn't close enough to see it. It was his own fault and he knew it.

"Chocolate, will you quit acting like Tart?" Kish really wanted to plead with her, but knew he'd never be able to live it down if he did it in front of everyone else. So deciding to be prideful, he took the other approach. Be mean to her now and apologize a lot later.

Chocolate's only answer was a glare and a very harsh, crushing step on his foot. She rolled her eyes while Kish tried not to yell out in pain.

"Wow...I think you just made Chocolate even more mad then she was before..." Pudding noted, watching as she went to a table full of college guys and flashed a huge smile for them. Kish fumed and pouted, picking up a tray of cakes and taking it to the family who ordered it.

"Yeah, I know...Kish is in for it now!" Tart snickered, and then winced when Pudding hit him in the back of the head.

"Tart, be nice!"

"Oww! Pudding that hurt!"

"It's what you get." Pudding said, with a motherly wag of her fingers.

Tart grinned at her, and then sighed, "Fine, but not I'm gonna say sorry."

Kish sighed, "She's really angry with me, isn't she?"

"If you can't tell that, then you're dumber than I-" Tart cut off when Pudding shoved a lollypop in his mouth. She frowned at him then walked toward their arriving customers.

"And what's really sad for you...Is that you have to go home with her." Mint added, trying not to laugh at the way Kish's face saddened even more. He had messed up big time with Chocolate.

"I'll find someway to make her happy with me again." Kish whispered, a determined look crossing his face while he watched Chocolate serve a couple their chocolate mousse.

**At 8:00 p.m.**

"See you guys later." Chocolate waved at everyone in the cafe and left, knowing Kish was right behind her. He gave another sigh, surprised she was still mad at him for this long. He wondered if she even remembered why she was mad at him.

"Chocolate."

"Don't talk to me."

"But Chocolate!"

"Are you deaf? Don't talk to me." Chocolate turned around and glared at him, then continued on her way home. Kish floated above the sidewalk, slowly following her to her house.

When they reached Chocolate's house, she had closed the front door before he could get in the house and he had to open the door for himself.

"Hello Kish. How are you today?"

"I'm okay, Ms. Chocolate's mom."

"Only okay?" Chocolate's mother smiled at the boy's lack of vocabulary. Mrs. Chocolate's mom wasn't her name, but because it sounded so cute coming from Kish, she decided to let him keep calling her that.

"Yes, only okay. I think I made Chocolate upset with me."

"Then why don't you go check on her when she gets out of the bath? I'm sure she'll feel better then."

"I hope so..."

"Are you hungry?"

"No."

"Well, I know Chocolate will want a snack before she goes to bed. Can you take these up to her, when they're done?"

"Okay." Kish sat at the kitchen table and watched as Chocolate's mother went about making cookies. They had been baking in the oven when Kish had walked in and he watched her take them out of the oven and set them on a plate to cool. He heard the bathroom door open and then he heard Chocolate's footsteps into her room.

"Kish, if you want, you can take a shower in the bathroom down here so that you can go to bed after you take Chocolate's snack up. I'll bet she forgot something in her room."

Kish nodded, his ear picking up Chocolate mumbling about forgetting something or another and how it was his fault because she forgot it. Kish thought for a second that Chocolate knew he could hear her, but shook his head, knowing she wouldn't say things like that so he could hear her on purpose.

_'Then why would she even say it out loud at all? Man, what did I do?' _Kish gave a loud sigh and walked upstairs to Chocolate's room, getting his night clothes and going back downstairs to the bathroom.

"She's so mad at me...I don't know what to say...What can I say to make her forgive me?" Kish thought aloud to himself, turning the shower on. He removed all of his clothes and all of his ribbons and slipped into the shower. He gave another sigh as all the hot water washed down against him. What was he going to do to make Chocolate forgive him?

**With Ichigo**

"Ryou...Ryou, the alarm is going off..." Ichigo mumbled, trying to talk against Ryou's mouth. He silenced her with another kiss, obviously not caring about what the alarm meant.

"Ryou...The alarm is..." Ichigo started, but knew Ryou had heard her the first time she had said it.

"I know." Ryou practically growled at her, catching her mouth with his own and kissing her fiercely. With a deep sigh against her mouth, Ryou pulled away, raking a hand through his hair.

"Ryou..."

"Ichigo, I'm sorry."

"What for?" Ichigo questioned, looking worriedly at Ryou. He gave another sigh and Ichigo saw the turmoil in his blue eyes. But what was he so upset about?

"Nothing...Just know I'm sorry...Okay?"

"O-okay..." Ichigo gave a faint smile, not understanding what was going on, but knowing Ryou needed her support. He gave a faint smile back, reaching a hand out to caress her cheek gently. Ichigo leaned into his touch, closing her eyes slowly.

"Come on. Tokyo needs you." Ryou slid his hand from her cheek, down her neck and to her wrist, where he gave it a gentle squeeze. Ichigo smiled, blushing brightly, not caring that her ears and tail were out.

"You're right." Ichigo allowed herself to be lead out of Ryou's room and followed him downstairs to the lab. When they both went in to find Keiichiro and Mint, both with headsets on, calling everyone from the computers.

"We were just about to call you." Mint said, moving the mouthpiece to the side. She moved it back in front of her mouth. "Hey, Chocolate, you and Kish need to meet us at the football stadium. Apparently, the aliens want to receive a beating again." Mint laughed at something Chocolate had said and then turned, taking the headset off.

"You guys okay? You look a little...red?" Mint glanced at the blush on Ichigo's face, that hadn't gone away completely.

"Oh we're f-fine!" Ichigo cried, nervously.

"If you say so..." Mint stood up, and then transformed into her heroine form, Mew Mint, "Come on, Mew Ichigo! We have to go."

"You're right." Ichigo transformed as well and with a wink, ran up the stairs after Mint, ready to take on anything. She was almost down the street when Ryou came outside.

"YOU FORGOT MASHA!" Ryou yelled, tossing the little white computerized fur ball toward her. She caught him when he flew into her hand, and then went back to running.

"See you, Ryou!" Ichigo waved and Ryou just watched her run off, away from the cafe. Finally when she could no longer be seen and was out of sight, he turned and went slowly back into the cafe. He had a few things to do of his own.

**At the Stadium**

"I wonder if they somehow had access to our battle recordings." Tart asked, looking around him at the stadium. He could see his enemies, far to the other side of the empty stadium, wondering what they were up to this time.

"You guys are fools to just walk in here like this." Apple said, smiling as the stadium lights all lit up. She stood in the center of the field with her hand in the air above her, looking like a dancer waiting for the music to start.

"I mean come on! I stadium, with no one in it and we just happen to be here at the same time as you? You're fools..." Egg was seated up in the higher stands, where the commentator's sat. He spoke into a mic so that his voice was projected all over the stadium and Kish glared.

"Egg, shut up!"

"Oh little brother, your words hurt me..."

"Shove it."

"Now, now, we mustn't get angry. You should be happy...I bothered to get you and all your friends a birthday present. Would you like to see it? I'm sure you would." When Egg looked down, he saw that they're plan had already begun. Karima animas were coming in through the stand entrances and forcing the group, closer and closer to the lower stands. Finally, the had to jump down, or be attacked by all the Karima around them.

"What's he trying to do?" Mint asked, looking around her with worried eyes. Apple floated down in front of her, a sinister grin on her face.

"He wants you guys to come play with me and all of my teammates." Out of no where the other members of the team came, from all angles, at the group surrounded on the field.

"Let's go you guys!" Ichigo cried, and the battle was on. Pudding and Tart headed straight for Tart's cousin, Ham. Deciding he would be easy to take down. But he surprised them both when he brought about thirty or more large Karima animas to his aid.

"Try and take me down now, you wimps!" Ham laughed loudly and evilly, watching his cousin look around him in frustration.

"Pudding, be careful." Tart whispered, moving to float beside her.

"I'm always careful! It's you that needs to watch out." Pudding answered from the ground, with a playful smile, "Plus I can take these down in a couple of minutes! Pudding Ring Inferno!" Pudding threw both of her rings toward the huge group of Karima animas and watched as they were trapped in what looked like a giant Jell-O cup.

"HIYA! HAM GET READY TO DIE!" Tart charged at his cousin and engaged him in a hand against sword fight. "Did you know that I can control Karima too, Ham?"

"Of course I knew! Or did you forget that you were my teacher?" Ham taunted, slashing at his cousin's head. Tart lowered himself closer to the ground and glanced at Pudding out of the corner of his eyes.

"Double Pudding Ring Lighting, Slash!" Two streaks of yellow flew by Tart and Ham, striking another group of Karima behind them.

"Little brother! Here is your present! Rose, flip the switch, love!" Egg had turned from the mic but everyone heard him. Rose smiled as a spot light hit her and she flipped a huge switch beside her. A giant pink force field covered the top of the stadium, closing it off to the rest of the world. Then another switch was flipped and everyone on the field gave a large cry with the exception of the members of team E.A.R.T.H.

"We told you that you were fools for coming here." Terra gave a happy sigh, since Rice had his arms around her with a grin. His twin sister, Rose, flipped the switch again and stopped the huge electric current flowing through them.

"So will you surrender now, baby brother? We might let you live if you do." Egg said into the mic, holding back his laughter.

"Never!" Kish yelled as loud as he could, hoping his brother heard him.

"He's right! We'd never give in to you!" Ichigo yelled, and then gave a loud cry when the electric current was turned back on.

"Rose! Crank it up!" Egg said into the mic, his anger apparent. Rose turned a knob beside one of the switches and the current increased, causing everyone to cry out.

"You won't continue this much longer." A stern, serious voice came through on its own mic, echoing throughout the stadium. All of the stadium lights came out, one by one, and then it was dark.

"We won't allow you to hurt the Mews anymore. We will protect them until our last breath." A second voice said, poetically. Mint's eyes widened at the sound of the voice; she knew who it was, but she couldn't place the voice.

Egg looked around him, worried and curious, "What is going on?" He came out of the commentator's box, and tried to see in the darkness, but all he caught were glimpses of moving shadows.

A gray tail swung in the air as a single set of stadium lights came on, shining onto a at the top of the stadium. The stadium lights revealed his gray ears and bluish gray hair. He wore a black muscle shirt, black pants and black boots. Over the muscle shirt was a gray vest, with black and white fur on the collar. His claws hung at his sides, each paw a cute gray color, like the rest of him.

"Who is that?" Ichigo questioned, looking up as the current stopped. She struggled to stand up and finally did, her eyes straining to see the guy standing above them.

"I don't know." Mint answered, glancing at the gray cat-like guy. She then searched around for the voice she knew, wondering who it was. _'I know that voice...'_

"Who are you!" Ham yelled, obviously angered by the interruption.

"Why does it matter? I'm a friend of the Mews. That's all you need to know!" The cat-guy jumped down, to the center of the field and immediately began attacking the aliens that were there. They were all so taken by surprised that they didn't even move when he punched them in their faces and flung them into a wall.

"Who are you?" Ichigo asked when the guy held out a hand to help her up. She took it, still trying to figure out who this new guy was.

"You don't recognize me?" He asked a happy smirk on his face.

"N-no..."

"And to think, my number one fighting matching doesn't even recognize me. Ichigo, I'm hurt."

"You can't be...Can you? Ryou? What'd you do!"

"What do you think I did? I couldn't let you have all the fun." Ryou winked at Ichigo, who felt her face warm up. He had merged himself with animal DNA to help her...It was amazing...

"So that means..." Mint looked toward the place where Rose was fighting someone and watched as she was being drawn out of the hall. Suddenly she was flung completely out of it by a powerful blast of ice and wind. Rose went flying out of the hall and into the stadium field. A tall figure in black pants and dark blue shoes, stepped into the light, turning all the lights on. His eyes were a spectacular dark blue, matching his dark blue hair. His shirt was gray and he wore a vest similar to his partners. The pattern on his vest was of feathers, and on his back were beautiful large pure black wings, something that made him look even more handsome. His vest had on fur on it.

"It's Kei!"

"Hey Mint," Keiichiro had a large smile on his face as he greeted the younger girl. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine now."

"That's good to hear." Keiichiro helped Mint off the ground, and even dusted off a little of her clothes for her.

"So you were telling the truth..." Mint whispered, trying not to laugh and cry at the same time. Keiichiro had changed his DNA structure for her. He didn't know how life would be with dormant DNA to change your ability to do things, to see things...He would have to experience it all on his own.

"Of course I was. I wouldn't lie to you, Mew Mint."

"Yes, I know."

"HEY! CAN YOU PAY ATTENTION TO US PLEASE! YOU'RE FIGHTING US REMEMBER!" Ham yelled, just now removing himself from the wall.

"Oh yeah, that's right. Mint, there is a Mew Aqua in the basement. Think you can go get it for us?"

"I'm already on my way!" Mint said, flying out of the field and toward the closest hallway, making her way down to the basement.

**Five Minutes Later**

"I'm back! Let's see if you guys can handle this! Mint Echoing Wind Gust!" Mint cried as she ran up the slanted hallway to the field. Using her mind, she controlled the huge tornado she had conjured and moved it until all of the members of Team E.A.R.T.H. were inside it. Finally she threw the tornado into the wall and slammed them into the entire east side of the stadium. After several moments Team E.A.R.T.H could barely move to transport themselves out.

"W-We'll g-get you! I p-put that on t-this p-planet! W-We'll get y-you!" Egg sputtered out, trying to breath with all of his wounds. A sudden rush of air signaled the entire team phasing out of the area.

"GOOD JOB MINT!" The entire group cheered for their conquering friend. She had made them all very proud.

End Chapter 9


	10. The Traitor Appears

Always Doesn't Last Long

By: Sailorjj07

10. The Traitor Appears

A/n: I've updated! YAY! Since I was told that Chocolate is a lil mary-sueish, I'm gonna work on developing her character a bit. Ichigo is still the leader and the new girl CAN'T be stronger than her, that's not right. So I'm gonna work hard to make her true character show.

Disclaimer: I do not own! And I don't own the song, "Polovtsian Dances And Chorus" either.

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

"Oh my gosh, I'm so tired!" Mint cried, stretching out on the couch in the lab. She gave a loud yawn and covered her mouth with a blush spreading across her cheeks. Keiichiro just smiled, and turned back to the computer screen.

"Well, you should go home and get some rest. Would you like me to walk with you?"

"Oh Kei, I can't take you away from surveillance like that! You have to watch the city."

Keiichiro stood up from his chair and walked over to Mint, holding his hand out, to help her stand up, "No, it's okay. It'll be alright for a few minutes. Plus I have to test something out any way, and you're the only one that can help me." Keiichiro smiled wider and Mint blush even brighter, after taking Keiichiro's hand and standing up. She nodded slightly, and led the way up the stairs.

"Wasn't today your very first time flying?" Mint asked, walking out of the cafe's front door. Keiichiro nodded and walked beside her, a warm smile still on his face.

"Yes, it was...And I have to say...It was quite enjoyable."

"But Kei, you barely know how! We have to show you the right way!" Mint grinned and in an instant turned into Mew Mint.

"The right way?"

"Yes, there IS a right way to fly, you know." Mint said, in a know it all voice. She grinned even wider and waited for Keiichiro to change as well. Tonight he would learn how to really fly.

**With Ichigo**

"Ryou, what are we going to do about Lettuce? We can't just wait for her to show up, but if we go searching for her, it's bound to make EVERYTHING worse." Ichigo heaved a sigh and leaned against Ryou, grasping his hand in her own.

"You're right. But I know that if we go searching for her, we might find something that we can't handle...And I'd rather us wait on her to show up before we did anything. We don't know how strong she's gotten and we have no clue how long she's been around Deep Blue, if he's even awake yet."

"...Deep Blue..." Ichigo glanced at their joint hands and then closed her eyes. The memory of Deep Blue hurt her and it reminded her of her failed relationship with Masaya.

"Ichigo, if you don't want to fight him, then you don't...You do know that right?"

"Ryou, I can't not fight him! I can't leave you guys like that! I can't leave you like that! I have to be there! I need to be there..."

Ryou wrapped his arms around Ichigo, pulling her to him, "I understand that. I'm just making sure you know. The last thing I want is for you to be hurt, but if that's how you feel...I won't get in your way, ok? Just make sure you come out alive...You are my number one weapon after all." At the end of his sentence Ryou gave Ichigo a smirk, ducking when she swung at him.

"Ughh! Stop calling me that!"

"Nope. And be quiet," Ryou smirked wider and rolled over, pushing Ichigo with her back to her bed, "Or your mom and dad will hear us."

"Ummmm...uhhhh...R-right...", Ichigo blushed brightly from Ryou's position over her and then pouted when he smirked even more at her blush.

"Ichigo, you're so cute."

"Thanks..."

"You're very welcome. Can I have a kiss as thanks?"

Ichigo laughed, and lifted her head up slightly, "Ryou, you're so silly."

"Mmmmmmmmmm, but it gets me what I want...So I guess being 'silly' is okay." Ryou leaned down and kissed Ichigo fiercely, sending her heart racing madly. She wrapped her arms around his neck after several minutes of kissing him, and pulled his face closer to hers. Ryou only kissed her with more intensity and Ichigo's face ran hot with the fire. She still got warm from his kisses and when his hand slid to cup her cheek gently, she blushed brightly.

**With Chocolate**

"Kish, I'm still mad at you. Don't come in here." Chocolate heard his footsteps and smelt his scent before he was all the way up the stairs and in front of her door. She could also smell the cookies that he had with him, but that didn't matter too much to her. She was still a lil ticked at Kish,

"Chocolate! You've been mad at me all day! Don't be mad at me..." Kish sighed and walked in her room anyway, ignoring her demand. He couldn't believe that she had actually been mad at him all day! Was it really that serious? Kish set the plate of cookies on her dresser and walked over with two in hand. He ate the one in his left and waved the other one in the air.

"Is that from my mom?"

"Yep. Do you want it?"

"No."

"Why not? Your mom said you would."

"I'm not hungry."

"You're lying, Chocolate." Kish walked over with the other cookie, and sat on Chocolate's bed with her. Chocolate immediately moved over, trying to put space between them.

"You know, I did tell you to not come in here."

"So? I brought you something from your mom. I think that's good enough reason." Kish laid out on Chocolate's bed and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She wore a slight annoyed look on her face, and Kish thought it was the cutest thing in the world. He smirked at her before holding the cookie again.

"You're getting crumbs on my bed."

"I am? Well then I guess you need to eat this cookie, huh?"

"Give it here."

"Come get it."

"What? No. Give it here."

"No, come get it." Kish grinned mischievously at the girl beside him, and grinned wider when she looked frustrated with him.

"Kish..."

"Fox, come here and get it, if you want it."

Sighing, Chocolate moved closer to Kish and reached for the cookie...Only to have Kish snatch it out of her reach and move it closer to him. Giving a slight growl of frustration, Chocolate then proceeded to tackle Kish and get her cookie, making them both fall over on her bed. Kish laughed as Chocolate ate the cookie right in front of him, smirking in triumph while she ate it.

"Ha! Serves you right, Kish."

"Fox, you're so cruel..." Kish said, rolling his eyes and reaching out. He wrapped his arms around the girl above him and then smiled.

"What?"

"You have something...on your face...Right there." Kish pointed at the area at the side of her mouth and Chocolate wiped at it, trying to see it.

"Did I get it?"

"Nope. You still didn't get it. Come here, I'll get it for you." Chocolate leaned her face down closer to Kish's and smiled gently as Kish kissed the side of her mouth. He then moved to kiss her gently on the lips, licking her bottom lip that tasted like the cookie she had just eaten.

"Kish..."

"Fox, stop being mad at me."

"Why?"

"Because...I don't like you being mad at me."

"Really?"

"Yes...So stop." Kish kissed her again on her mouth, more firmly this time, before moving to kiss first her cheek, then trailing her jaw line to her neck. Chocolate closed her eyes as liquid fire rushed through her body and could barely get an answer out.

"I-I'm sorry..."

Kish halted in his assault for mere seconds, just enough time to smirk, before he went back to kissing her neck.

"For being mad.."

"It's okay, Fox."

"Is it?"

"Yeah. Now shut up...You're not paying enough attention to me." Kish ran his tongue along a single spot on her neck before softly biting Chocolate. Chocolate blinked in surprise, as a bright blush ran rampant across her cheeks. No one had ever done that before...

**The Next Morning**

Ichigo woke up to find Ryou in human form beside her. Her eyes grew very wide and she threw the covers off of her, then sighed in relief to find all of her clothes in their rightful spot, with the exception of Ryou's hand on herbare stomach. She smiled and played in his blonde hair while he slept, wondering why he chose to stay this time. He was usually awake and gone by this time, but for some reason he stayed. Shrugging Ichigo moved his hand so that his arm was around her, and laid her head on his chest. She listened to his heart beat and smiled wider, blushing slightly, as she remembered how his heart had sounded when he had been kissing her. The two paces were extremely different and it made her slightly proud that she had that kind of affect on someone.

"Hmmmm...Ichigo?"

Ichigo blinked and almost jumped when she heard Ryou's husky voice break the silence in the room. His other arm came around her and Ryou hugged Ichigo to him tightly, half-awake.

"Good morning, sleepyhead."

"You were actually up before me? What's this world coming to?" Ryou smiled gently and Ichigo couldn't help but laugh at the way he looked.

"Ryou, hush. It's Sunday, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember...Let's go do something today." Ryou said, laying his chin on top of Ichigo's head. Ichigo nodded and breathed in his scent, memorizing it for a time when he wouldn't be by her side, though that time probably wasn't very likely.

"Hm? Like what?"

"Whatever you want."

"Really? Because I want to do lots of things!"

"Then let's do some of them and then next Sunday, we can do some more."

"Really?"

"Yeah..." Ryou's eyes closed and he gave a loud sigh, that gentle smile still on his face.

"When do you want to go?"

"Around 12...we can go have lunch and then do what you want."

"Ryou...It's 10:30." Ryou's eyes opened quickly and went straight to Ichigo's clock, confirming that it indeed was ten thirty in the morning. He sat up, still holding Ichigo, and ran a hand through his hair.

"You love making things difficult for me, huh?"

"Of course. I am your number one weapon, after all." Ichigo smiled and moved away from Ryou, "Now go, or you're going to be late and I don't like that."

"Like you're ever on time."

"I will be today."

"Then come to the cafe at 12."

"Ok." Ichigo smiled widely as Ryou changed himself into Alto and practically ran out of her window as soon as she had opened it.

**At 1 o'clock in the Afternoon**

"Wow, that was such a good restaurant, Ryou!" Ichigo said, grinning widely and patting her stomach. Ryou laughed at the girl holding his hand, and followed her down the sidewalk. Ichigo resisted the urge to skip, knowing that Ryou wouldn't stand for that, so she walked with him instead.

"What do you want to go do next?", Ryou asked, ready for anything. Ichigo could have said she wanted to go bungee jumping and he would have it arranged for her, because today was her day to spend time with him and do what she wanted. It didn't matter as long as he got to spend time with her.

"I want to...Go ice-skating!" Ichigo cried, as if the idea was perfect for the situation. Ryou sweat-dropped, thinking she was going to ask from something that would actually be hard for him to accomplish.

"Then ice-skating we'll go." Ryou smiled and opened his cell phone, releasing Ichigo's hand and walking ahead of her. After talking on the phone for five minutes, he hung up, a triumphant smile on his face. He grabbed Ichigo's hand and lead her in the proper direction, until a limo pulled up beside them.

"Umm, Ryou?"

"Get in." Ryou opened the door for Ichigo and she got in as she was told, surprised at the white stretch limo Ryou had gotten for her. He smirked and closed the door behind himself, watching as Ichigo babbled on and on about how nice the limo was. After about ten minutes of riding, the two came to a halt in front of what looked like an ordinary building. No other cars were parked in the lot, and Ryou grinned, getting out of the car, and helping Ichigo out. She looked around with a confused look on her face, before Ryou grabbed her hand, and led her into the white building. He walked though the glass doors and led her down a dark hallway, until they reached the end, where a lot of lights were on. As soon as Ichigo hit the open area, her eyes grew wide in awe, because directly in front of her was a very large ice skating rink, with the ice newly laid. She walked forward, and then stopped when she realized...She had nothing to skate on the ice with.

"Ryou?"

"That's not all, Ichigo, come here." Ryou said, from his spot at a row of bleachers to the left of where Ichigo had been standing. She ran over to find two wrapped, rectangle boxes sitting on the bleacher next to him.

"What's this?"

"Here. Open it." Ryou handed her the two wrapped boxes and watched as she removed the pink wrapping paper of one box, smirking as she gasped.

"IT'S SOO CUTE! Is this for me?" Inside of the first box was a light pink coat, with fur along the top of the hood. Ichigo ran her finger along the coat, feeling its smooth, soft material. She immediately put it on and felt the warmth of the coat, loving it for the color, the feel, and it's length, since the bottom of the coat hit the top of her legs. She put her hand in the pockets and found a pair of pink gloves as well.

"That's still not it. Look in the other box." Ryou had already put on his cream colored coat, the same as Ichigo's only different and made to fit him. He was sliding his fingers in the gloves as he waited on her to open the other box.

"OHMYGOSH! Ryou, you're the best!" Ichigo grinned with happiness as she held the pair of brand new pink ice skates that matched her new coat. She held them up in the air and hugged Ryou before exclaiming again about how wonderful they were.

"Now Ichigo, with brand new ice skates, you have to break them in, so you have to be extra careful, okay? Here these will help you out too." Ichigo nodded as Ryou gave her a pair of thick socks, so as to keep her from getting blisters. He smiled and showed her his cream skates, before walking closer to the ice. He then took off his shoes and put his skates on, removing the guards on the blades. He made sure they were sharpened like he had asked, and then took to the ice, looking up at Ichigo as he glided backwards across the ice.

"Ryou, I have to tell you, I'm not very good."

"Then we'll help you get better!" With a smile, Ryou moved gracefully toward Ichigo and stopped in front of her with bow, holding his hand out to help her. Ichigo was shaky at first, but as Ryou skated with her and time passed, she got a little better at it. Finally, Ryou let her go, and watched her glide across the ice on her own. She smiled widely and cheered.

"LOOK! RYOU, I CAN DO IT! YAY!" Ryou laughed at her, but inside his heart was about to burst with the love he felt for Ichigo. He knew they wouldn't and couldn't do this all the time, and that's what made it all the more special. Reaching into his pocket, he took out a remote and slowly and quietly music began to play. He turned up the volume and a song, known as the "Polovtsian Dances And Chorus" played for Ryou. He nodded his head in time to the music, and began to skate in earnest, glad that he had gone to lessons. Ichigo watched in fascination as her boyfriend moved and danced along with the song, watching his closed eyes and the expression on his face. Feeling inspired herself, Ichigo skated towards him and followed his movements, copying him almost exactly. When he jumped in the air to do a spin, however, Ichigo simply watched, wishing that she could do something like that. Soon the song was over and Ryou, breathing faster than before opened his eyes, smiling at Ichigo as he reached his hands out to her. Ichigo skated to him, blushing with happiness as his arms came around her.

"Ryou, that was-!"

"Wonderful, I know." Ichigo turned in shock as a voice echoed around the rink. She turned her head and Ryou immediately pushed her behind him, looking around the room warily. Clapping was heard and Ichigo frowned, wondering where she had heard the voice from.

"Who's out there!" Ryou yelled, his eyes narrowing, as he took his gloves off and slipped them in his pocket. Soon his ears were poking out and his hair was slowly starting to change color and grow, right in front of Ichigo's eyes. She held off on saying the words that would change her into a Mew, wondering who it was.

"Ryou, you couldn't have forgotten me. I loved you! For two long years, I adored you! How can you forget me that quick?" A girl stepped forward and the light reflected off of something as the stepped closer and closer to the rink...

Ichigo's eyes widened as she realized WHAT the light was reflecting off of. They were glasses! "Lettuce! Why are you doing this?"

Lettuce stepped into the light, her arms crossed over her chest and a frown on her face, "You ask me that while you stand hugged up with the one I LOVED! How can you do that, Ichigo? You go through guys like a glass of water! Well guess what? It's freezing over for you right now! Mew Mew Lettuce Metamorphosis!"

"No, Lettuce, we don't want to fight you?"

"You don't want to fight me? You've been fighting me since the day I became a mew! You didn't want to leave me to myself, you wanted to 'help' me! Well look what your help did! LOOK!" Lettuce held out her arm and Ichigo winced at the pulsing blue gem that was embedded in her arm. Blue veins were winding up her entire arm and slowly making a path on her neck. Tears were streaming down Lettuce's face, and she glared at the two in front of her.

"W-What is that?"

"This will make me one of them. My body will go through another changed, and I'll have alien DNA in me...Then Deep Blue will love me, and accept me. He will treat me better than ANYONE else!" Lettuce lowered her arm, only to raise it again.

"Lettuce, don't-!"

"Shut up! Lettuce Rush!" Lettuce's main attack came charging at Ryou and Ichigo, and Ichigo found herself not able to move at all. Lucky for her, Ryou was ready and jumped out of the way, landing on the ice hard enough to crack it in certain spots.

"Ichigo, you're going to have to change..." Ryou whispered to her over his shoulder. Ichigo shook her head, closing her eyes against the obvious. Lettuce was her enemy now; not her friend. She couldn't help her anymore...she was beyond it.

"Ryou, I...I don't want to fight her..."

"Do you really have a choice?" Ryou turned, hugging Ichigo to him, "I know you don't want to, but you-! AHHHH!"

"You told us to never turn our back on the enemy, why would you knowingly do it?" Lettuce asked, smirking at the blue needles protruding from Ryou's back. He growled and yanked them out, turning around to glare at Lettuce.

"Lettuce! You've gone too far! Mew Mew Strawberry Metamorphosis!" Ichigo yelled, tossing her gloves on the ice behind her. She felt her ears and tail come out, though her coat was over her usual Mew uniform. Frowning, she skated forward, at an amazing speed and jumped in the air when she got close enough to Lettuce. Blue needles came flying at her and as a memory flashed in her mind, Ichigo spun, landing on the ice gracefully and then skating forward towards Lettuce again.

"Ha! You think you can beat me?"

"Together we can!" Ryou yelled, coming up behind Lettuce. He reached out to grab her...but she vanished from his grasp, "Damn!"

"We'll finish this later!" Came Lettuce's voice, though she wasn't near the two any longer. They heard the sound of rushing air, and Lettuce was gone from the Earth. Ichigo stared at the spot where she had been and fell to her knees on the ice, bursting into horrible, uncontrollable sobs. Ryou skated over to her as quickly as he could, getting on his knees and hugging her to him.

"I had to fight her...Ryou, we just fought one of our good friends..."

"I know, I know..."

"I can't believe we fought her..." Ichigo began to cry harder, and Ryou just held her, cursing the new aliens and Lettuce for making his only love cry like this.

End Chapter 10


	11. Awake

Always Doesn't Last Long

By: Sailorjj07

11. Awake

A/n: Ok, so I'm finishing this one off too. YAY! Next chappy is the last yall, sorry it took so long.

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

Ichigo heaved a sigh as she looked at all the people around the table. She and Ryou had rushed back to the Café from their ice skating trip, both calling for an emergency meeting.

"So she has really gone to them..." Pudding whispered, wrapping her arm around Tart's arm. She sniffed a little bit as she watched Ichigo's sad eyes, and Tart just shook his head.

"Duh." Mint said, trying to curb her anger. Lettuce was supposed to be their friend!

"I barely knew her, so I can't exactly say that I'm really upset," Chocolate said, her eyes telling everyone that she meant what she said. Kish, Tart, and Pie understood her sentiments - they didn't really know her either. "But, I can say that if she's betrayed the Mew-hood, then she's gotta get the boot."

Pudding snickered a bit at the word: Mewhood? Then she gave Chocolate a faint smile, "Thanks for sticking with us."

"No prob, Pudding-Pop," Chocolate said smiling. She had taken to giving everyone little nicknames, something she had just started on the phone with PepperMint (Mint) earlier.

"So what do we do?" Tart asked, looking around at everyone in the room.

"We wait. We have to push back Deep Blue and the others. We have to keep the world safe no matter who is helping them." Ryou's eyes were calculating, but hurt. He was more hurting for Ichigo and the others than himself, but hurt. Lettuce had been his friend too.

"Even if that means fighting Lettuce."

Everyone looked at Zaruko as she spoke, her purple eyes saying more than she ever would. That was when the group remembered...Zaruko was closer to Lettuce than the rest of them. They had become friends because both of them were the quiet type, even if it was for different reasons.

"Yes, she's right. Even if that means fighting Mew Lettuce." Ryou leaned back in his chair as if a burden had been somewhat lifted off of his shoulders. Now, the entire group was sharing the problem of Lettuce's betrayal and of saving the world.

Ryou could say he was almost relieved.

Keiichiro, however, was not. He had a laptop opened in front of him and was typing furiously, motioning for Mint to look at the screen. She gasped and covered her mouth, her eyes widening to a considerable size.

"Kei..." Mint whispered, covering her mouth.

"What's up, you guys?" Pudding asked, leaning over Mint to look at the laptop. Keiichiro was still typing quickly, pointing at the screen.

"See that big black expanse over there? That's space. You see that BIG blue light right there? That's Deep Blue's power...And gets this. He hasn't even woken up yet." Keiichiro hit a button and the screen zoomed in on the blue light, bringing up the screen. "This is from our satellite, orbiting around Earth. That's their ship and that," here he pointed at the light, "is Deep Blue."

The camera moved from the left side of the light to the right side. Keiichiro sat and watched as everyone gathered around the computer to see the size of the light, and he was worried that everyone might panic.

As the group looked on, though, the camera began to fill with static and then the screen flooded with blue light and shut off.

"Damn."

The one word that Chocolate murmured as Keiichiro stared at his laptop in wonder was the thought on all of their minds. The laptop had been shut off, and Ryou wondered if his satellite was gone now too.

"We have to wait. That's all we can do." Ryou said, lowering his chin onto his hands.

"Can we train?"

"Well, yeah, but how much good would it do us if we trained and you guys were dead tired when they showed up? We know they're waking up Deep Blue, we just don't know when."

"Damn...again." Chocolate heaved a sigh and sat back down in her chair at the table, sitting her head down on its wooden surface. Kish pressed a kiss into the top of her hair before sitting down beside her.

"Stop that." Kish told her when he had leaned near her ear.

"Sorry. When I get nervous, I cuss." Chocolate whispered to him, trying to calm herself down. She was really worried about getting in the way of the rest of the team. She was fairly new to all of this and sometimes she still had to tell herself that she actually was a Mew.

"I see." Kish whispered back, chuckling a little bit. He knew his fox was having some worries about what was going on, but at that moment he vowed to himself to protect her even if it killed him.

"Ok everyone, we'll call the meeting over. Go home and get as much rest as you can" Ryou told the group sitting around him.

"And try not to worry, guys...It'll get us nowhere fast," Ichigo said, laying her head down on the table like Chocolate was. The group around her nodded and Ichigo listened as the chairs scrapped against the floor.

"Ryou..." Ichigo breathed and he placed a hand on her back. Chocolate sat her head up and saw this, taking that as her cue to leave. She winked at Kish and stuck her tongue out at him, "Race ya home."

Ryou heard Kish ask something about a prize, and turned back down to Ichigo, who still had her head down.

"Do you think I could convince my mom...?" Ichigo started to say, but she shook her head and stopped herself.

Ryou lifted her chin up and looked down into her eyes, sitting on the edge of the table beside her, "To let you stay? We can tell her that you're at one of the other girls' houses."

"Then I'd be lying to her."

"Yes, but I know you want to stay here."

"Well can't we just ask her?"

"We could, if that's what you want to do, Ichigo."

Ichigo shivered as Ryou said her name. He said it like it was the best word ever created and she loved it, "Will you talk to her for me?"

"You think I can win your mom over?"

"I know you can." Ichigo said, smiling at Ryou. He leaned forward and met Ichigo's lips in a soft, slow kiss that set her on fire more than anything else. Smirking at the bright blush on the girl's cheeks, he sat back on the table and took his cell phone out of his pocket.

"Fine. I'll give it a go."

Ten minutes later (that's all it took) Ichigo had permission to stay at Ryou's for the rest of week. He told her mother that Ichigo was invited for extra training to become a manager, but she still had to go to school.

"Wow, you're mom sounds like a wonderful woman," Ryou told Ichigo as he led her up the stairs in the café to his bedroom. "I see where you get it from."

Ichigo smiled, but Ryou saw that it didn't quite reach her eyes. He gave her a questioning look as they walked into his room, and he shut the door behind them. Ichigo sat down on his huge white and gray bed, a worried look crossing her face.

"Ryou, I'm just so worried. What're we going to do if-?"

Ryou had placed his finger over Ichigo's lips as she spoke, shaking his head slightly with a lazy smile. "Ichigo, we fight. End of story. Stop worrying so much."

"But it's so hard not to, Ryou."

Ryou shook his head again, and caught Ichigo's chin between his fingers. He brought their faces together and kissed Ichigo heavily, whispering against her lips. "Take your mind off of it. Or I'll do it for you."

Ichigo was slightly confused, "What?"

"I'll help you take your mind off of all this..." Ryou whispered, and the depth of his voice warmed her in a way she had never felt before. Ryou kissed her slowly, running his hands against Ichigo's arms. She kissed him back as the heat began to spread through her body, feeling all coherent thought slip away.

Ryou took advantage of the chance too, and his hands traveled to the buttons on the front of Ichigo's shirt. He shifted his mouth from her mouth, to her jaw line, and down her neck. Ichigo could feel herself giving into her sensations totally, and she could feel the heat rush to her cheeks even more. Slowly, her top button was undone, followed by the one below it, and every piece of exposed skin that Ryou could see, he kissed. Ryou traced her collarbone with kisses, moving down until he had reached Ichigo's bellybutton and the last button on her shirt.

"R-Ryou..." Ichigo's voice was barely working, but that one, softly breathed moan almost shot all his self-control. Ryou's tongue darted out, and soon was working a small path in and around her belly button, earning another moan out of the girl below him. (He had long since laid her down on the bed, of course).

Ryou then began the trek back up Ichigo's body, and when he felt her back arch at a certain point on her neck, he knew he had found a special place.

Oh, what fun it was to know special places.

**With Zaruko and Pie**

"Are you angry?"

Zaruko sipped at her tea, staring at her marble countertop. She was angry, really angry. Lettuce was going to get such a...Zaruko didn't even know what she was going to do to her just yet, that's how mad she was.

"Hmmm...A yes." Pie was amused to say the least. The only time Zaruko showed this much emotion...well, he didn't want to think about that right now, but that wasn't the same as this. He watched her eyes glare at the countertop. She wasn't just looking at it, no matter how much she wanted to believe it.

Across from them, Pudding and Tart were eating homemade apple ice cream; Zaruko had made it in an angry fit and now the two younger ones were "oooing" and "ahhhing" over its taste.

"Cheer up, Zaru!" Pudding was calling everyone by Coco (Chocolate's) nicknames. She smiled at the older girl and spooned more ice cream in her mouth, her tail swishing happily behind her. Sweets seemed to have that effect on the young money-girl.

"Hey, Pudding, chill out. You're too excited." Tart told Pudding, looking at her tail in slight disdain. Truthfully, he was worried; Zaruko did have servants all over the house. Pudding nodded and began to take slow deep breaths, something that Tart had taught her. Soon her tail vanished and she was no longer the excited Monkey Girl. Just plain ol' Pudding.

"Ok ok. You happy now?"

Tart smirked and kissed Pudding's cheek, making her blush and her tail coming back out. She glared at Tart, pouting at him before going back to her ice cream.

"So you were close to the vegetable, huh?" Tart knew his words would slightly annoy Zaruko, but he figured calling Lettuce a funny name would make her somewhat better.

Instead it got a cup full of hot tea in his lap. As the little alien boy began to scream and a few tears ran down his cheeks, Zaruko stood up from the counter, walking to her room. Pie wore a smirk on his face as he followed her, wondering why in the hell Tart was such an idiot. Pudding, who thought Tart, got just what he deserved, merely shrugged and went back to her ice cream, while watching Tart roll around on the kitchen floor and cry about his manhood being stolen from him.

**With Chocolate and Kish**

Neither of them were going to go to sleep, Chocolate decided, and to her, that was just fine and dandy.

Kish had taken to kissing her with things in his mouth: ice, candy, cookies, whip cream, tea; whatever fit his fancy. Today, he was feeding her chocolate chip cookies and mixed with the delicious cookie and the even tastier Kish, Chocolate was way above Cloud 9.

"Chocolate!"

The two broke apart as Chocolate's mom called her and she swallowed the last bit of cookie in her mouth and winked at Kish as he phased away. She straightened her clothes and got under her covers, staring at her door as her mother came in the room.

"Were your cookies good?"

"They were the best, Mom. They always are." Chocolate told her mother, smiling at her. Her mother nodded and walked over to the side of her daughter's bed, sitting softly on it.

"Well, honey, there's something I wanted to talk to you about..." Chocolate's mother looked thoughtful as she said this and Chocolate nodded, wondering what her mother had to say to her. Usually, they didn't talk like this and if her mother was going to pry, Chocolate was ready to tell her to mind her own business.

"Are you and Kish...involved?" Chocolate watched her mom divert her eyes from her face and wondered what she was hinting at. Did she think-?

"What?!" Chocolate asked, incredulously. Was her mom seriously asking her about her relationship Kish?

"I mean, do you and him...you know...Act like birds and bees?" Her mom asked, deciding to clarify.

"MOM! You're joking right?" Chocolate couldn't believe this. Her mom, her freaking mother, was asking her if she was having sexual relations with Kish! True they made out on a daily basis, but it never got as far as that. He had never even taken her shirt off...

"Right. Well, I didn't think so, but I just had to check. I would hate for you to be so young and have a child yourself. Just be careful ok? Protection works well." Her mom said, matter of factly, and Chocolate just stared at her. The urge to yell was ripping Chocolate to bits...She pointed at her door and didn't say anything. Her mom saw herself out.

"Good night, honey!" Her mom called cheerfully, and as the door shut, Chocolate chunked her pillow at it.

"I wouldn't mind acting like that." Kish's voice was seductive and amused beside her ear. Chocolate glared at him and gave him a playful shove in the shoulder.

"You hush up. I'm embarrassed right now."

"Mmm, shy. I like that, fox. It's hot." Kish placed kisses along Chocolate's earlobe as she tried to keep herself from going on a rant to her boyfriend. Apparently, his mind wasn't on her embarrassment.

"All of me is hot, what're you talking about?" Chocolate told him, giggling as his kisses went to her neck and the edge of her chin. Kish chuckled a bit as he continued a trail all over Chocolate's face until he had pushed her down on her bed and kissed both sides of her face thoroughly. He avoided her mouth the whole time and left her lips aching to burn like the rest of her was.

"Kish...You're supposed to kiss me now."

"Oh really? You should kiss me first."

"Why? You started it."

"You're a big girl, my lovely fox. Finish it." He answered her simply, and with a growl, Chocolate rolled them over and crushed her lips against his. Kish practically purred appreciatively, making Chocolate giggle as she kissed him. Kish pulled away for breath, before leaning back so that he could look up at the girl above him.

"Chocolate...You're so beautiful." Kish said softly, raising a hand to the side of her face.

"Why thank you, Kish. You aren't bad yourself."

"And I think..." Kish paused, looking up into the eyes above his. Chocolate wondered what he was going to say, watching his golden eyes curiously.

"You think?"

"I think I love you."

**With Mint and Keiichiro**

"You're not being fair, Kei."

"I'm looking out for you." Came the answer over the sounds of the keyboard.

"How is refusing me, looking out for me?! You liar." Mint sat in the chair and pouted severely. She had asked Kei to be her boyfriend and he had outright told her no. At first, she had been hurt, but after a while she realized there was a reason behind his saying no. She had been asking him about it for the past twenty minutes, trying to get his reason out.

"Mint, you have to understand," at this Keiichiro stopped watching the computer screen, "I really am trying to look out for you."

"Why? Let me look out for myself!"

Keiichiro took a hold of Mint's face in both of his hands and stared her in the eyes, "I want nothing more than to be with you, Mint. Believe me. But I'm just worried...I don't want anything bad to happen to you. If you get hurt when we fight Deep Blue...I'll... I don't know what I'll do."

Mint pouted as she stared back, still frustrated. "You make it sound like you've been secretly in love with me or something."

Keiichiro blushed brightly and went back to his computer, mumbling something that sounded like "maybe". Mint stared at him and then glared at his computer. She would never convince him if he was on that thing. So with a glare, she took a deep breath and bringing out some of her Mew power, blew a gust of wind that pushed Kei away from the computer at least a few feet in his rolling chair. Seeing her chance, Mint walked over to Kei, who looked very confused. She stood in front of him with her hands on her hips and stepped up to him until his chair had backed into the table behind him.

"Now will you listen to me?" She said, giving him a look that wouldn't take no for an answer. Nervously, Keiichiro nodded and Mint gave a firm nod before she began.

"You feel for me what I feel for you. I know you do, so why can't we be together? If you didn't want anything to happen between us then you shouldn't have showed me the attention. It's your own fault for letting me know how you felt," At this she put both her arms around the chair, leaning down so that their faces were on the same level, "So do not sit here and tell me you're refusing me for my own good. You're smarter than that. If you really feel the same way about me as I do you, then you'd know that being without me will hurt you. And if you can deal with that, then you aren't as smart or mature as I thought you were."

With another nod, Mint leaned back up and crossed her arms, waiting on his response. Keiichiro's face softened and he pulled Mint back down to his eye level, before pressing his lips softly against her's.

"You're right." Was all he said and Mint grinned like she had just won the best prize ever.

**With Ichigo and Ryou**

"R-Ryou...Something's beeping..."

Ryou blinked as he rolled over in bed, still managing to leave one arm around Ichigo's warm body. He pressed something on his alarm clock and a screen came up, displaying Keiichiro's face.

"What?" Ryou murmured, still slightly asleep. They had been sleeping for about four hours, but he still was slightly tired.

"We have to get to the tower again, Ryou. They woke him up."

End Chapter 11


	12. Big Blue

Always Doesn't Last Long

By: Sailorjj07

12. Big Blue

A/n: Sooo one more chappy and this thing is over. Thank you all so much for reviewing so nicely! I'm sorry it's taken me this long!

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

"Are you sure?"

"Duh, why else would we call you here, Ryou?"

Mint rolled her eyes as their boss stared at the computer screen. He had come downstairs with a hazy, floating look on his face. That was until Kei told him that they needed to hurry and call everyone.

Deep Blue was awake.

Zaruko, Pie, Tart, and Pudding all were on the phone, waiting for anyone to say something.

"Ok you guys, get here quick."

"My driver is going 50 over the speed limit. We will be there shortly," Zaruko said, making Ichigo's face pale considerably.

"Don't get a ticket!" Ichigo cried, hoping Zaruko's driver would get them to the cafe in one piece. A slight giggle came from Pudding as they turned a corner quickly, and the rest just sat in silence as they heard tires squealing over the phone.

"We will be fine." Zaruko said, almost warmly, and then she hung up the phone.

"I hope they'll be ok." Ichigo murmured into Ryou's arm. She buried her face into his shoulder and hoped on hope that her friends got to her safely.

"Has anyone heard from Chocolate or Kish?"

"They wouldn't answer the phone."

"What?!"

"We're right here, calm down." Chocolate walked into the room with Kish's arm around her waist, her dark fox tail swishing in the air behind her. Kish's golden eyes were sparkling in the lab's darkness; something had happened between him and Chocolate.

Chocolate sported what looked like a permanent blush on her face, as Kish pulled her body up against his. They stood there near Ichigo and Ryou, not saying anything, but everyone could tell they were thinking about a lot.

_'I'll protect you until I die my sweet fox.'_

_'I know, Kish.'_

_'You've made me the happiest person in the universe today.'_

_'Today? So I never made you happy before?'_

_'What? Of course you did!'_

_'Good. I would hate for it to be one-sided.'_

Mint watched as Kish gave Chocolate a squeeze and pulled her closer against his chest. She swore there was no space between the two, but they both were happy.

"Where's everyone else?" Chocolate asked, as everyone turned back to the computer that Keiichiro was on.

"They're on-" the loud screeching of tires warned the group that Ichigo's statement would be false. "They're here now."

"Well that's good."

Pudding, Zaruko, Pie, and Tart came bounding down the stairs just as Chocolate had finished her sentence. Zaruko nodded at the two wrapped in each other's embrace and then turned to Ichigo and Ryou, "When do we leave?"

"Now, that you guys are here, we're going."

Zaruko and Pie nodded, smirks crossing their faces. The two would fight together, they had decided in the car, and would surely be a force to be reckoned with.

"There's a small puddle of Mew Aqua on the way there. All the Mews will receive some, at least a mouthful, but not until we get there. I've already sent Masha to go get it."

"Well, that's great!" Pudding cried, hugging Tart, who pouted. He remembered how much those Mew Aquas hurt. Chocolate could feel Kish wince at the mention of the pure water.

_'We aren't attacking you, love. Why are you worried?'_

_'I'm not...I just feel bad for my brother when you get a hold of yours.'_

Chocolate grinned, giving Kish a kiss on his cheek before removing herself from his arms. She turned to her leader, as did everyone else in the room.

"Let's move out."

**At Tokyo Tower**

This was the same place as before. The last battle had been here, at the Tokyo Tower, and all of a sudden, the Mews were there again; ready to fight the team that had gathered there.

Deep Blue was nowhere in sight, and only Team E.A.R.T.H were flying around the tower aimlessly. Rice stopped as he spotted the group running up, Terra stopping to watch with him.

"Ah, so you came? You guys are such fools." Rice cried out to the Mews, before pulling Terra close to him and raiding her mouth with his tongue, in front of everyone.

"Gah, get a room!" Chocolate yelled up at them, as Terra's face colored red quickly. She returned Rice's kiss with just as much unrestrained passion as he did her, and most of the Mew group were forced to look away, from sheer disgust.

"You came! Little brother, I'm so happy to see you and your filthy human girl again. Did you show her the Writ of Circumstance? Yes? No? Will there be a wedding then?" Egg was just taunting his younger brother.

He was in love with a human, for goodness sake! Kish had truly disgraced their family with love for the stupid girl.

How did Egg know his brother loved the girl?

It was in his eyes. Egg saw his brother's love for the girl beside him as she had yelled up at his teammates. Truthfully, he was hurt by what he saw. The fact that his brother had would leave another love on their home planet for a human girl made him ashamed of his blood relative. He had loved the pink haired kitten one as well, Egg knew. But not as much or as hard as he loved the fox.

No, the love his brother's love for her was evident and clear as Kish put his arm in front of her.

"Stupid little brother." Egg's voice took on a slightly saddened tone, and Rose was beside him in an instant, patting his arm. She shook her head at Kish, while he protected the human girl.

Her fiancée's family was reduced to having tainted human blood? Whatever was she to do?

"Kish, why have you shamed us so?" She cried, almost feeling tears coming to her eyes.

"Shut up! I haven't shamed anyone! You have shamed us! Why did you allow Deep Blue to live again? He nearly killed us all. He'll betray you!"

"Lord Blue would never do anything like that!" Ham yelled back, and as he swooped down from his position on the side of the tower, heading straight for his cousin, the battle began.

Everyone jumped into action: Tart and Pudding were on Ham in an instant and Ham was having a hard time fighting the two off. Ichigo and Ryou were causing lots of problems for Egg and Apple, while Kish and Chocolate went for Rose.

Keiichiro and Mint were currently taking Terra on, while Zaruko and Pie were trying to slice Rice to bits. He would pay for that comment from their battle before.

"Kish! Stop your human slut!" Rose cried, as she dodged another claw attack from Chocolate.

"Slut?! I'LL KILL YOU!" Chocolate rushed at Rose, her mind blinded by anger, swiping with her claws as quickly as she could. But Rose could see with clear eyes, and it was only a matter of time when Chocolate felt the sting of Rose's fans slicing into her side.

"Ahhhhhh!!" Chocolate fell from her perch on a horizontal bar of the Tokyo Tower, and Kish stopped in mid-swing to watch Chocolate falling towards the ground below.

"Damn it! Foxxx!" Kish turned his back on Rose to go after her, but Rose refused to let him go. As Kish flew down to catch Chocolate, Rose flew after him, preparing to deal a blow to his head.

It didn't connect though because at that time Pudding slammed Ham into Rose, knocking them both askew, and throwing off her swing.

"Take that you stupid boy named after a pig!" Pudding stuck her tongue out at Ham as he and Rose hit a vertical bar on the tower, groaning.

Slowly, each alien began to lose against the couples fighting them. Soon the entire group was huddled into a circle and all five couples had them boxed in.

"Don't you think it's unfair to ambush them, Ichigo?"

Mew Ichigo froze as she heard Lettuce's voice, and with it, she felt the cold chilling sensation of a murderer's silent glare.

Deep Blue was with Lettuce.

"You'll pay." Was all Zaruko could manage to say, tightly. The entire group took a slow step back from the angry model, whose own death glare matched Deep Blue's completely. Lettuce visibly shivered and hugged Deep Blue's arm tighter, whispering to him in a frightened voice how scary the Mews were.

Deep Blue did nothing but give a toothy smile, "They'll be out of our way shortly..."

Raising his hand up, Deep Blue looked pass the group of Mews, and glared at the aliens behind them. Suddenly, each alien was covered in a blue light and one by one began to appear in front of Deep Blue.

"Lord Deep Blue, we are here to serve." Egg was the first one to speak, bowing low to the ground as Deep Blue gave a sinister smirk.

"And serve you shall...To feed my hunger!"

Without warning, Deep Blue opened his mouth wide, revealing fangs as a large vortex appeared in front of Lettuce and him.

"What?! AHHHHHHHH!! RICE!!" Terra was the first to go, screaming as the vortex sucked her in and in fearful worry, Rice took off into the vortex after her. The group watched in horror as the two managed to grasp hands before the disappeared into oblivion, and into, what Ryou assumed, Deep Blue's stomach.

Ham was the next to go, and even after having dug his sword into the ground to stop himself from being sucked in, he too went down into the seemingly endless hole screaming loudly as he went. One by one the aliens were picked off, until Egg, who was literally clawing the dirt, was the very last one.

Ryou, Kish, and Keiichiro all ran towards Kish's brother, each holding an arm, while Kish wrapped an arm ribbon to hold him away.

"Big brother! I told you he would betray you!"

"You did indeed speak the truth younger brother," there were tears in Eggs eyes, probably because his fianceè had already been sucked into Deep Blue's stomach.

"We won't let you go!"

"You have to. I don't want you sucked in too. Your Fox would murder me even as she bleeds."

Kish looked at Chocolate out of the corner of his eyes. She was bleeding profusely from her side because of the cut his brother's lover had given her, but she would be fine later.

"Brother, tell your friends to release me."

Kish did as his brother was told, and the loosened holds cause both brothers to inch closer to the hole.

"Kish! Let go!"

"B-But Egg!"

"Let go, I said! Do it for me! Do it for your big brother...As his last wish." Tears were streaming down Egg's cheeks now, and Kish could feel tears well up in his own. He released one hand on the ribbon linking him to his brother, while Egg smiled sadly.

"Farewell, young one. Mother and father...would be proud." Then without much adieu, Egg lifted his hand and severed the ribbon with one hefty yank, leaving Kish falling to the ground in sadness.

But it wasn't over yet.

As the group stood there, in horror at what had just occurred, Deep Blue began to grow. He got bigger and bigger, lifting his hand out for Lettuce to sit on as he grew. Before long the evil being had become a titan, only a few inches shorter than the Tokyo Tower itself.

"OH GOD! WHAT DO WE DO?!" Mint's usually calm demeanor totally crumbled and Keiichiro couldn't help, but grasp her hand worriedly, as he looked up at the giant Deep Blue. The creature began to walk, shaking the entire earth with each step he took. He growled, and the group was forced to cover their ears, nearly crying in pain.

"We have to stop him!" Ichigo cried, trying in vain to talk over Deep Blue's snarling and echoed words.

"Well then let's-! Look, it's Masha!" In mid-sentence, Pudding noticed the little flying messenger, and in his grasp was a bottle of water, that sparkled with an unearthly radiance.

"It's the Mew Aqua! He got it!" Instantly, Pudding was running to meet the helper, taking hold of the bottle before he had time to hand it to her. She darted towards the group, and took a swig of the drink, holding it out for the next person to take.

"I say we use our super-charged attacks..." Ichigo said, taking a drink of the water herself, then handing it to mint. It tasted so pure.

"Make them as strong as possible..." Mint added on, drinking the water out of the bottle before giving it to Zaruko.

"Aim it at big Deep Blue..." The tall girl commented before taking her drink, and when the bottle got to Chocolate, everyone smirked.

"And combine them to hit him dead on."

"You ready, girls?" Ryou asked, grabbing hold of Ichigo and putting her on his back. He smirked at her as their tails wrapped around each other, and she leaned closer against him.

"Ready."

All the guys need to do was drop them off at the top of five buildings closest to Deep Blue. Ichigo thanked the heavens that E.A.R.T.H had chosen a business district. Otherwise their attack would be next to impossible.

"Let's go!!!" Ryou bounded off at her call and soon Ichigo found herself scaling various building, until she was up at the top of her own. The girls managed to create a circle around the huge Deep Blue and the creature looked around him in confusion, seeing the group.

"It will never work!" He breathed out, and Lettuce giggled in agreement.

Ichigo glared, "Get ready to deal with all of us head on! MEW MEW POWER!"

"Double Pudding Ring Lightening Slash!"

Pudding's rings wrapped around Deep Blue's torso, pinning his arms down as Lettuce jumped up to his shoulder.

"Mint Echoing Wind Gust!"

As Mint blew a tornado from her mouth, the wind knocked the titan over, and he fell flat on his back to the streets below. The group jumped down from their buildings after him, not ready to end their assaults.

"Chocolate Flaming Claws!"

As Chocolate sailed down through the air, she slashed her burning claws in the air and then kicked the blasts down at Deep Blue, making the bursts of fire turn into burning balls of fire.

"Zaruko Earth Shaker!"

Zaruko slammed her fist into the earth as she landed on the ground, sending the ground spiraling up in towers underneath Deep Blue, knocking him back into the air. As he flew higher and higher up, his large face passed by Ichigo and as he began his decent back down towards the ground, Ichigo uttered her Mew Aqua attack.

"STRAWBERRY! LIGHT! BELL!"

The entire area filled with a blinding light and everything was silent.

End Chapter 12


	13. Forever

Always Doesn't Last Long

By: Sailorjj07

13. Forever

A/n: THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR STAYING WITH ME! This fic was a joy to write, and I have to say, I'm glad I'm finished. I think I've gotten better on my update habits though, ;

If you want to see more of me, lemme know; I'd love to write about other things. As of right now, I'm trying to start up a huge American Dragon revolution by writing more Trixie/Jake fics. I've also start in the Avatar: The Last Airbender world, if you want to take a look at that. I believe those fics have become my pride and joy (not together, one's my pride, the other's my joy, XP)

Anyways, on with the last chapter of Always Doesn't Last Long!

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

That blinding light had died a long time ago. Actually, the light had died two years ago from this very day. The Mew Mews along with the help of their alien friends and boyfriends, conquered the evil known as Deep Blue and saved the world once again.

But Deep Blue was the least of their problems right now.

"Ryou, are you kidding?! I don't want to move away!" Ichigo stomped her foot, irritated and upset. She already had tears in her eyes and Pudding was totally sobbing.

"We have to, once you girls finish high school."

"It's so unfair! We didn't decide this! YOU DID!" Ichigo really was angry. How could Ryou do this to them? To her?

"Ichigo! I said I was sorry, didn't I? You think I want to leave here? Do you think I want to move away?"

"You don't have a family to worry about!"

The words were out of Ichigo's mouth before she had a chance to think them. Ryou gave her a hard look and all of the sudden the old Ryou was back. The one that didn't love her.

"You're right. My only family is Keiichiro. And since he doesn't have a problem with us moving, I don't have anything else to worry about."

And with that Ryou strode out of the room, leaving Ichigo and the rest standing there. Chocolate was silent, as was Kish, who had tugged her towards him as the two argued with each other.

As Ryou disappeared upstairs, Ichigo sank to her knees, tears finally coming to her eyes. She was soon sobbing in earnest and everyone watched as she cried louder and harder than Pudding.

"Oh come on you guys. It's not that bad. We have until we turn 18 before we stop aging. And hopefully, by then Ryou will figure something out." Chocolate said, trying to keep everyone a little bit happier. It was hard talking over Ichigo's crying, though.

"And if he doesn't?" Kish questioned her, and Chocolate grinned, kissing Kish's cheek.

"If he doesn't, you can take me home to your Mom and Dad."

"Mom and Dad? You want to take her there, Kish?" Before Kish could respond, his brother Egg, walked into the store, with his now sister-in-law, Rose, behind him. Rose gave a joyous wave to the group as she walked in cheerily behind Egg, but when she saw Ichigo sobbing on the floor, she gave a loud cry.

"Oh my! Ichigo, are you alright honey?" Rose was on the floor next to her in an instant, hugging the girl as best she could with her bulging belly. Ichigo began to quiet down as Rose hugged her and pat her back, but she was still crying.

"What happened to her?" Egg asked, watching his wife hug the human girl and whisper words to her. He smiled to himself as he thought of how Rose would look comforting their baby, then turned to hear his brother's answer.

"Well, Ryou just told us that the girls may stop aging when they hit 18." Tart told Egg, sucking on a lolly-pop. He wasn't all that worried about it, really. As long as Pudding was happy, he was too. Shrugging the alien boy picked Pudding up and sat her in his lap, allowing her to bury her face in his neck and make herself quiet.

Tart didn't say anything to Pudding as she cried, but he softly slipped a jawbreaker into her mouth. Pudding got quieter, sucking on the candy, but still sniffing into Tart's neck.

"But it isn't definite, is it?" Rose asked softly, still attempting to comfort Ichigo. Zaruko nodded at her and pinched Pie, who had a wide smirk on his face. He gave a start, giving Zaruko a sideways glance that made her blush prettily. Chocolate stared; she had NEVER seen Zaruko blush before.

"No, it's not, and that's why I don't understand why she's so angry." Mint said softly. She leaned against Keiichiro, who was nodding in agreement. Mint apparently didn't have a big issue with it either.

"You know what? You guys should come home with us."

"Ok!"

The response came so quickly from Chocolate that Rose giggled as she hugged Ichigo, who was quiet now.

"Wait. What? Rose, love, they can't come home with us."

"Why not? I'm sure Mother and Father would LOVE to see the girl that little brother adores. Plus, I believe Tart and Pie have to go introduce these lovely ladies to their parents as well."

Pie heaved a loud, annoyed sigh, crossing his arms as Zaruko smirked at him.

"I hate my parents." Pie muttered, and Zaruko's smirk grew wider.

"Oh hush, Pie, you do not." Rose said, as Ichigo got up. The front of her shirt was nearly soaked, but she was ok with that. Ichigo helped the older alien get off of the ground, since she was pregnant and all.

"But what if-?" Kish glanced worriedly about him and Chocolate pouted. Did he not want them to go?

"What if nothing. Did you forget? We've been home four times since the battle with Deep Blue. We're doing better, Kish. Everyone on Team E.A.R.T.H are doing better. Home is better too."

"But what about Ryou?" Ichigo's voice was soft as she asked this. He was mad at her after all.

"Honey, if you want him to come, then you have a lot of sucking up to do. Go ahead, go on up there." Rose gave Ichigo a soft shove towards the stairs, and turned to everyone else. "Won't you guys have...a...ermmmm, what's the word? Ummmm, a break, from that school place?"

"A vacation?" Pudding had stopped sniffling and crying by now; Tart's neck was entirely too interesting. He had moved her away from him after a few minutes and his entire face was red at the moment.

"Yes that. Don't you have one coming up soon?"

"Yes, actually. It starts tomorrow." Zaruko wanted to go too, it seemed.

"That's great! We were actually going home tomorrow! Oh, I'm so excited! Mom and Dad are going to love you, Chocolate!" Rose hugged the girl Kish had come to love, and rubbed her cheek against hers. Chocolate, who wasn't very used to hugging a pregnant woman, just stood there, blushing insanely.

"They want to thank you too, it seems." Egg said, with his arms crossed. He nodded at Chocolate and Rose, giving his consent to the trip.

"Ooh, does that mean we get to ride on a spaceship? Kei, we definitely have to learn how to fly one of those!" Mint cried, hugging Keiichiro in excitement.

"I am eager to see their technology as well." Keiichiro answered, hugging Mint back. He was happy too.

"Let's just hope Ichigo and cat boy make up." Tart added, finally gaining his composure. Pudding grinned at him and hugged him, since everyone else was hugging.

**With Ichigo and Ryou**

"Ryou?" Ichigo walked into Ryou's room, only to hear his shower running. Steam was floating out through the cracks in the door, which told Ichigo that was where Ryou must be.

Sighing, Ichigo sat down on his bed and waited for him to be out of the shower.

After about five minutes, the door opened, but the water was still running.

"Ichigo."

There he was, standing in nothing but a towel, his blond hair dripping and steam rolling off of his body in soft waves. Ichigo blushed and diverted her eyes almost instantly; the sight was enough to give her a nose bleed.

"Ichigo, come here."

"W-What?"

Deciding that words weren't gonna work in this case, Ryou marched over to her, taking hold of her wrist and yanking her up. He led her into the bathroom, and shut the door behind them, not saying a word.

"Here."

He handed her a white towel and Ichigo stared at him in wonder. He wanted them to shower together?

Ignoring her stare, Ryou stepped back in the shower, not saying a word as he squeezed shampoo into his hands. He didn't understand why she was acting surprised; they had changed in front of each other before. It wasn't like he was going to ask her to give him her innocence or anything.

Soon Ichigo stepped in the large shower as well, leaning against the wall as the thick white towel kept her from being seen. She opened her mouth to speak, but didn't know what to say. Ryou helped her without even turning around.

"I'm angry with you," he said, and his voice sounded almost strained.

"I-I know. And R-Ryou, I-I'm-!"

"Ichigo, you shouldn't have said that."

"I know, I know! I'm really sorry, Ryou, but I just-!" Again Ryou cut her off, this time by turning around and almost forcefully pushing Ichigo against the wall. He slammed his fist into the tiles above Ichigo's head, and that was when she saw it.

He was crying.

"Oh Ryou. I'm so sorry. Please don't cry." Ichigo's arms were around him in an instant, and he nearly crumbled, feeling more tears slide down his face. Ryou had never cried before in his life; even as a child, he refused to let tears show.

"Ichigo, you are my family. Don't you know that?" He whispered into her ear, hoarsely. Ryou kissed her hair, feeling more tears slide down his face. "I love you more than anyone in this world and in all the others. Forever, Ichigo. I won't ever stop. Aren't you aware?"

"I know, Ryou. I'm so sorry. I love you too. I didn't mean to hurt you." Ichigo was crying before she knew it, and there they were, the both of them, crying together in the shower as the hot water ran down Ryou's back and made his towel heavy.

"So why-?"

"I was upset, Ryou. I don't want to leave my mom or dad."

"I know that, but I said it wasn't definite." He was leaning his forehead against her's, closing his eyes as he spoke. The steam from the hot water made it hard for his tears to stay on his face for very long.

"You did. I'm sorry for over-reacting."

Ryou leaned down and kissed Ichigo, softly at first, before he unleashed his emotions on her. Ichigo was pressed further into the tile behind her, but she didn't care. Ryou's kiss was warm and loving; he meant every word he had said to her.

He pulled away when they both were gasping for breath. Ryou looked at her with clouded blue eyes, and Ichigo could feel her knees getting weak.

"A-Are we made up now?" Ichigo asked, almost nervously. Ryou gave a curt nod before releasing her completely and turning the shower off. He watched her as she climbed out, waiting until she had grabbed hold of another towel and gone out, into his room. He shut the door behind her, a sigh escaping his lips.

**The Next Day**

"I'm so nervous." Ichigo said, as she wrung the him of her skirt. Ryou smiled at her from across the room, his eyes laughing. He had heard her.

"Why? It's not like YOU have to meet your boyfriend's alien parents." Chocolate said, ripping another corner of a sheet of paper. She had an entire snowstorm in her lap, and Ichigo began to wonder where the girl was getting paper from.

Then she looked over and saw Pudding drawing furiously, apparently nervous herself. She would give a sigh of frustration, rip the page out and hand it to Chocolate, who then turned it into bits.

"Well, I've never been in a space ship. And I've never been to another planet before. Will everyone be like Kish was when he first met us?"

"I doubt it." Zaruko said, watching as another planet went by them. She was truly fascinated by their quick pace and wondered how long they were REALLY taking to get to Pie's home planet.

"Chocolate? What are you doing?" Kish came from the control panel at the front of the room, where Ryou, Mint, Pie, and Keiichiro had been. He watched as Chocolate ripped a sheet of paper to shreds, confused.

"Hehe! Ummmm, nothing Kish. Nothing at all." Chocolate stopped her paper shredding as soon as she realized Kish was watching her, though it was impossible to hide the snow mountain on her lap.

"Don't 'nothing' me. Are you nervous, Chocolate?"

"Hehe, no! Why would I be?"

Kish rolled his eyes, before pushing the entire pile of paper off of Chocolate's lap. It fell on a square in the floor next to Chocolate's chair, and the girls watched in awe as the square removed itself from the floor and floated off, probably to the trash. "Come with me, fox."

"What? Why?"

Kish lead Chocolate down a hallway and into a room that had gold and black all over it. She saw a picture of herself and Kish on a nightstand and knew this was Kish's room. However, she didn't have much time to look, Kish lead her to the side of the bed and then pushed her down, before pinning her down with his own body.

"Stop being so nervous, my fox."

"But it's hard, Kish, I don't-! Mmph!" Kish wouldn't let her talk; he kissed her before she could finish. After thoroughly shutting her up, he lifted his mouth up, so that he could talk.

"If they don't like you, I won't go back home. Ever. They'll like you even if its just to keep me visiting."

"Kish, I don't want to be the cause of you having a bad relationship with your-! Mmph! Stop that!" Kish kissed her again, this time licking her bottom lip before he slid his tongue completely in her mouth. The girl felt herself dissolve within the kiss, and soon she had forgotten what she was going to say.

"You let me worry about it, fox. Stop trying to make everyone love you. I'm the only one."

"What do you mean?"

Kish smirked and kissed her on her cheek this time,"I'm the only one that matters. Because I'll love you until I stop breathing. And meh, probably after that too."

"What? Kish, don't say things like that. You aren't going to do anything stupid, are you?"

"No!" Kish rolled his eyes, tickling Chocolate with a ribbon, "Silly fox, I'm telling you how much I love you and you think I'm going to die? Say you love me back and make me happy."

"You love me back."

"My silly fox." Kish kissed Chocolate again, watching as her eyes slid shut before he closed his own. He pulled away and gave her butterfly kisses, whispering "my silly fox" with every kiss.

Soon Chocolate was too warm and too happy to be worried. Kish left her in his room to sleep, but not before he told her one last time.

"I love you, Chocolate."

"And I love you, Kish. Even after I die."

"Good. Now, go to sleep, fox."

"I can't, Kish. You're talking to me."

Kish laughed and closed his door, leaving Chocolate to sleep in his bed.

As he walked back into the room, Ichigo smiled at him. She was happy he had found someone else to love besides her; at one time Kish, like Masaya, had said he would love her always.

And for once in her life, Ichigo was very glad always didn't last long.

Because forever and eternity are much, much longer.

THE END!


End file.
